When was the last time you asked for a DF steer? It's time we asked for one (By Steve Samuelson)

It's night. You're flying single pilot IFR and George has left the building. Pull the breaker? Tried that. Now what? (By Joe T. May)

Climbing to stay in visual meteorological conditions sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. We'll explore the latter. (By Andy Clark) 

An SR20 and a wobbly iPad prove not to be mutually beneficial. Ride along, but maybe leave your iPad at home (by Juan B. Plaza) 

Flying single engine over the mountains at night in a vintage airplane. What could go wrong? (By Jim Pitman) 

By Steve Ells. 

A night-time cross-country almost ends in disaster for want of a 50-cent part. (By Tom Hildebrandt) 

A medical helicopter pilot flies into night IMC. Where are the towers? (By Byron Edgington.) 

An icy diversion to JFK. Grab your winter gloves and fly along. By Charmaine Sperling 

Get there itis and a lack of night experience cause a stressful flight over north Florida. (By Douglas Kiefer) 

The unusual layout of controls creates a problem for the pilot of a Piper Tri-Pacer. By Gilbert Halacz. 

When, and how, to defer to an older pilot in an emergency situation? Find out one opinion. By Paul Locander. 

Smoke in the cockpit and a partial avionics failure make for an interesting flight. (By Alex Jones) 

it's been said aviation accidents are caused not by one bad decision but by a chain of them. How about seven? Find out what's going on. (By James Witt) 

Do you pay attention to small things or do you wait until they become big things? Find out one pilot's opinion. (By Sebastian Teunissen) 

Do you really need to inspect the oil filter after every oil change? Read one pilot's perspective. (By Rusty Herrington) 

A teardrop turn between two ridgelines in IMC? Sounds dangerous. Find out the grim results. (By Gary Deck)

We've all had some stinky flights but this is ridiculous. (By Bob DelValle) 

A bush pilot unsuccessfully calculates fuel instead of looking at the tanks. By Steve Ells. 

Flying a race plane is different from flying just about anything else. Find out what happened on this pilot's maiden flight. (By W. G. Hill) 

A Mother's Day promise to his wife and mother caused one pilot to push his limits. (By Tom Snow) 

Bad decisions often start with good intentions. (By Pat Haseltine) 

How does a pilot miss seeing a Boeing 747? (By William Kramer) 

Is a cornfield a good choice for an off airport landing? Sometimes you have no other option. (By Scott S. Thomas)

A 182 pilot discovers fuel gauges don't always tell the whole story. (By Dave Houghton) 

Accepting a number of seemingly minor risks endangers a Cherokee pilot and his family. (By John Parker)

 A Cessna twin pilot applies what he learned in an engine-out emergency to another engine-out emergency. (By Pierre Wildman) 

A 172 pilot calls tower and receives an instruction that's completely Greek to him. Of course he is flying in Greece. (By Carl Dworman)

You're flying over the desert and your engine quits. How do you decide which tiny little butte you want to land on? (By Richard Snider) 

Engine trouble above a solid overcast with known icing. That's not good. (By Jose G. Riera)

Sightseeing pilots in a dream destination are seduced by scenic grandeur into making a flight they would regret. (By Alan Cockrell) 

Halfway through an Immelman is not a great time to lose aileron and elevator control. Good thing the regulations require a parachute, but will the pilot need it? (By David Werdeger)

We're all set to take our instrument checkride...or are we? Funny how little things can go unnoticed. (By Karen Atkins)

 Operating in the Los Angeles VFR corridor seems safe enough, at least until the weather conspires against you. By Steven Mark Sachs.

Your engine dies because there's a parachute wrapped around the propeller. Find out how this happens. (By David Hensley) 

When a Remos pilot has a partial engine failure on takeoff, the response seems less clear. What would you do? (By Jeff Durante) 

An IFR flight in central Europe makes an American pilot long for the good old FAA. By Robert Tompkins. 

While testing a novel piece of avionics, two pilots unknowingly become test pilots. By Stephen Davies

A Meridian pilot learns the true purpose of training, and any pilot at any time is capable of making a mistake that leads to a dangerous situation. By John Smith. 

Most pilots would agree that gambling with an airplane is a bad idea. See how one pilot found this out. By Donald Burkley. 

Have you ever declared an emergency? Have you ever considered it? Ride along in instrument weather with a failed HSI. By Austin Kallemeyn. 

Flying a Cheetah with the canopy open sounds pretty cool--so long as you've read the handbook. By Martin T. Murat

There's darkness, and then there's middle-of-nowhere darkness. Add in a low cloud base and you've got the recipe for an uncomfortable flight. By Tom Haack.

Flight safety is compromised by a moose carcass. (By Mark Owen) 

An oft-practiced landing technique pays big dividends in the real world when smoke fills the cockpit and the engine self-destructs. 

A Centurion pilot ices up over the mountains and hears two voices in his head. Find out which one he listens to. (By Joe Brinck) 

 A Civil Air Patrol pilot on an Angel Flight mission realizes the importance of patience when he finds himself nose to nose with another aircraft at 100 feet off the deck. By Dale Brown. 

 When the runway lights go out at night while you're enjoying an electrical failure, decisions have to be made--and quickly. By Gary Souder. 

A sod farm makes a fine landing field until it's harvested. Prepare for a bumpy arrival in "Ninety-Degree Turn on Takeoff" by Tom Haack. 

On a 10-minute VFR trip, a Cessna Skylane pilot wanders into unforecast IMC. What to do? By Peter Boody. 

 Always perform a visual inspection of the fuel in your tanks. By Jerry Hawkins.

A hand-me-down checklist causes problems during an engine failure after takeoff. By James Carter. 

There's certainly something wrong with a Skyhawk that runs through its entire fuel supply in an hour and a half. But if there's no obvious leak, where do you look next? By Doren Weston

 A Cessna 210 flying in the Bahamas is suddenly filled with blinding smoke. What would you do? 

In this episode, a Zenith 601 XLB pilot finds himself unexpectedly upside down--twice. You might want to grab that helmet and ride along in "Surprise Encounter," by Bill Thomas. 

Erratic airspeed indications, including a 70-knot indication while plugged into ground power. You trust your ASI, don't you? Compare your answer in "Just Like the Real World," by Harvey R. Greenberg. 

High over the North Atlantic, a King Air pilot inadvertently causes a complete electrical shutdown. Stray on the oxygen and fly along with "Gang Bar Down," by Dan Gleason. 

When the gear fails to retract, a Grumman Goose pilot attempts an extraordinary repair with a most unusual tool. 

A low-time Cessna pilot pays a social price for an incomplete preflight. 

Main gear down and locked, nose gear still up in the nose. What would you do when a prop strike is the least of your worries? Find out what a cargo pilot did!

An iced-up Baron is hard to land when the pilot can't see out the front. Pull on your warm gloves and ride along!

A Colorado pilot on a VFR mountain cross-country has few options when encountering a wall of clouds. Oxygen might be a good idea!

A Cherokee pilot is cautioned to not to try to scare his passenger, only to find out how scary an engine failure is for all aboard. It's clench time!

A ski landing on the Alaskan ice succeeds ... by inches.

A hurried takeoff induces an Arrow pilot to miss a fundamental engine control.

A Bonanza pilot suffers a catastrophic engine failure but lands safely using a synthetic vision system.

Hot weather, an overloaded airplane, and bad advice create a dangerous chain of events. Be glad you're on the ground!

In the chaos of a forest fire, a reconnaissance pilot forgets rule one: fly the plane.

When the alternator fails, the battery is supposed to be good for 30 minutes. But when it quits after only 18, how do you get the gear down?

A dual alternator failure in IFR, at night, on a twin just out of annual - what could possibly go wrong? Have your flashlight and raincoat handy and climb into the right seat.

The possibility of landing at night in the country's biggest swamp motivates a Cherokee to fly an engine-out approach very carefully.

A newly-minted instrument pilot falls into the impending clearance trap. Cinch up that harness and expect some turbulence!

An unsuspecting cross-country pilot gets "thumped" by an F-16.

Poor decisions are made to satisfy an impatient right-seater.

A 172 pilot on a family outing encounters the perils of flying IFR - standing for "I Follow Rivers."

It's nice having a deep-voiced controller to save your bacon when you're icing up in hard IMC in the mountains.

Interesting things happens when a Maule pilot attempts a night landing with no runway lights.

An Archer pilot considers his options in the fuzzy area inbetween IFR and VFR.

Assuming he's all alone at a remote strip, a back-country pilot neglects to use the radio to self-announce ... as does the other pilot in the pattern.

Flying in and out of tiny airstrips in the jungles of the Philipines creates unique challenges, and a podcaster tries to pronounce Philipino names in "Lagubang Lessons."

Turbulence, wind shear, and the necessity of tightening your seat belt to avoid continually banging your head on the airframe all contribute to a memorably uncomfortable flight.

A 172 pilot learns that not everyone loves airplanes as much as pilots do.

If it weren’t for the roar of the 230-horsepower Continental engine, you could have heard a pin drop. We would have preferred to hear the gear drop.

A Bonanza pilot discovers that there is normal "Chicago winter cold" and then there is "popped-door winter cold."

An electrical failure in IMC requires instruments to be read by matchlight. (Originally published in the Feb. 1997 issue of 'AOPA Pilot' magazine.)

A Champ pilot underestimates his passenger's weight with nearly disastrous consequences.

Two military aircraft arrive at the same beacon simultaneously, with one going twice as fast as the other.

A checkout flight of a home-built causes a pilot to appreciate stall awareness training.

As a celebration of AOPA's 75th Anniversary this month, Never Again podcast offers this special vintage episode "Snakes Alive!" by Max Karant, originally published in the 1959 issue of "AOPA Pilot" magazine.

A Beech 18 freighter pilot hauling newspapers deals with an in-flight engine fire.

Preoccupation with a newly-installed engine monitor diverts a Bonanza pilot's attention from a far greater problem.

An Air Force cadet in jet fighter training learns the dangers of scud running.

A game warden gets closer than he expected to a flock of ducks. Find out what happens...

An air ambulance pilot uses an unusual and improvised landing technique to compensate for an inoperative nose gear.