22-year-old student pilot Kaitlyn Young gave everyone a lesson on how to stay calm during a crisis when her Cessna 172 Skyhawk aircraft lost its only engine on Monday, June 3 in Plymouth, Connecticut.
Young conducted an emergency landing through the trees just outside of a campground near Waterbury Airport. She was guided by the Bradley Control Tower after issuing a Mayday call. The interaction was captured on LiveATC.net and shared on multiple platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.
“I’m a student pilot solo and I am panicking,” she informed Air Traffic Control, yet remained composed and clear across all communication. The controller instructed Young to land on a grass strip runway near the inactive airport, but the plane didn’t make it.
Young survived the crash with minimal injuries. According to NBC Connecticut, a campground maintenance worker helped the pilot exit the downed plane before Plymouth Police arrived at the scene.
As a true Gen Z’er, the student pilot took no time sharing the experience to her TikTok account, posting a “before and after” video of the incident where she is seen dancing on her way to class at 8 am, and then stretcher-bound in an ambulance presumably on her way to the hospital nearly four hours later.
The comments were all incredibly supportive, praising the 22-year-old for her composure and discernment and wishing her a speedy recovery.
Hi Kaitlyn, fellow student pilot here. You did an absolutely fantastic job, you should be extremely proud of yourself! Wishing you all the very best in your recovery and hope you’re keeping well”
As a flight instructor myself, i would be so proud to have you as my student. you handled that like a true professional pilot girly”
I just watched the flight video, and if you ever are a commercial pilot, I hope you’re my pilot! You are beyond impressive. Holy Cow!”
Young set up a GoFundMe page to help cover her medical bills, but informed her followers later that the owner of the aircraft had claimed responsibility. Per NBC Connecticut, the plane is registered to a holding company in Texas, and the FAA is investigating the occurrence.
More about the Cessna 172 Skyhawks
Cessna 172 Skyhawks are manufactured by Textron Aviation, and described on the company’s website as a “flight training favorite ideally suited for student pilots,” thanks to its great visibility, slow landing speed, and lenient stall. Multiple websites, including PilotMall and SkyTough, report this aircraft as one of safest in the industry with a fatal accident rate of .56 per 100,000 flight hours, which is half the industry average rate of 1.2-1.4.
An annual report by the AOPA Air Safety Institute from 2000 offers valuable context to these statistics. It points out that the impressive safety record could be related to the aircraft’s primary usage as a training vehicle, which means it’s usually flown in ideal weather conditions. The report also notes that “when studying the pilots of accident flights (…) the accident involvement goes up significantly” among pilots who have recently obtained private certificates. Excess of confidence mixed with inexperience can form a deadly cocktail.
Furthermore, the Cessna 172 Skyhawk is equipped with a piston engine and, according to a 2007 report by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, these have a much higher average failure rate than turbine engines. While one piston engine failure is reported every 3200 flight hours, turbine engines have a failure rate of one per 375,000 flight hours.
Before all this, it’s safe to say that Kaitlyn was lucky, but she was also incredibly responsible and cool-headed. Two crucial traits to have in a pilot!
