Vertigo Can Bite

It’s not easy to admit having succumbed to such a serious bout of vertigo that it brought me and a fellow crew member to within seconds of losing our lives. However, if by telling the story others are cautioned against making the same mistake, then too bad about the shame of it.

- John Mussell

Over sixty years ago, in August 1953, with two hundred hours as first pilot and qualified for instrument flight, I was airborne in the rear cockpit of a Harvard T6 Trainer, having taken off from Chileka Airport, Malawi. In the front cockpit sat a local farmer serving as observer.

Our task was to check for road blocks along the road between the Shire River (pronounced “sheree”) and Blantyre. As we headed towards higher ground, the aviator’s bête noire, the infamous Chiperoni airstream and its thick blanket of low cloud and drizzle invaded our air space.

With unexpected rapidity we were being squeezed between cloud and ground until decision time arrived. We had two choices; either to turn back or climb straight ahead. I reasoned, however, that the reducing visibility and undulating ground ruled out turning back. I called out on the intercom my decision to climb up through the cloud layer, increased the power, pulled firmly up and straight away entered cloud.

Then, before settling down to scanning the flying instruments, I became aware of a strong sense of having pulled up so sharply as to risk stalling the aircraft. I pushed the ‘stick’ forward seeking a seat-of-pants confirmation of a more gentle climbing attitude.

Feeling more comfortable, I had just begun transferring my attention to the flying instruments when, in the corner of my vision a darkish object emerged from the mist and flashed by on our right- hand side. Turning my head, I was shocked to realize that it was a huge tree and that we were dangerously close to the ground. That’s when reality kicked in.