You're Reprimanding Me, But Don't Know Why???
A BELLY LANDING Almost Cost My Flying Career because of an overzealous FAA Inspector
August 26, 1964, at Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan; checklists completed, take-off flaps set 12 degrees; we began our take-off roll and reached lift-off speed at 3500 feet down the 11,000 ft runway.
After lifting off and raising the gear, the airplane began porpoising.
The nose was going up and down, becoming more violent each time. We had plenty of runway so as the nose began to come up on one of the gyrations, I eased the power back and let the airplane settle down onto the runway.
There was no time to put the gear down. 
Had I attempted to continue flying the airplane and couldn't get the airplane under control, we may have crashed. I couldn't risk crashing the airplane, possibly causing loss of lives of my crew and someone on the ground.
The decision to put the airplane on the runway, or attempt to fly out of the situation had to be made in a split second. I chose the safest decision.
The touch down was gentle and I kept the airplane straight down the runway while we had speed. As it skidded to a stop the rudder lost effectiveness and the airplane turned slightly.
Photo at right of the Argosy on it's belly on runway centerline
I notified Zantop who immediately came to Wurtsmith to assess the damage and determine what happened.
My Co-Pilot and Flight Engineer supported my decision.
They were excellent aviators and conscientious in performing their duties Their lives were in my hands, and if they thought I had done something wrong they would tell the truth. There is no stigma to honesty. Both said they were frightened when the airplane began porpoising, and supported putting the airplane back on the ground.
The FAA Inspector who investigated the accident immediately accused me of pilot error (before any investigation) and openly said the company should fire me.
His Accusations:
- All 3 crew got vertigo and "imagined" the plane was porpoising (Tower verified the porpoising)
- Not putting the flaps to take-off position (Three crewmembers verified take-off flaps as per the check list)
- Lift-off before reaching lift-off speed (This was disproven using the actual distance with our weight)
- Raising the gear too quickly (We followed the book procedure)
- Attempting a left turn too quickly after take-off. (Our departure route was straight ahead and we touched down in the runway center line. That would be impossible had we begun a left turn)
Fortunately, the company supported me.
I had been with Zantop 6 years and they knew my reputation was solid; my skills were high; and I was honest. The other crewmembers had impecable reputations for being highly skilled and thorough. At the time I was one of the Training Captains who trained Co-Pilots to check out as Captain. Training Captains must always use proper procedures to set examples.
Had the company not supported me with their attorney, I would not have been able to afford attorney fees to fight the FAA, and I would have lost my license. It took the company one year and about $20,000 (1964/65 dollars) to fight the charges. My annual gross pay was around $12,000 then.
FAA dropped the charge but slapped my hand.
They said they know I did something wrong but don't know what, and can't prove it, so they are dropping charges but reprimanding me.
Isn't that interesting!!!
FAA reprimands a pilot, but they don't know what for, and can't prove it???
Unfortunately, that's the way it was back then. Every accident was pilot error UNLESS it could be proven otherwise. It was easier to close a file by calling Pilot Error without further investigation.
Today it's different. They spend months piecing together the airplane and investigating carefully to determine accident causes.
In 1966, when I interviewed with Pan Am, I had to disclose the accident and provided documents proving the company supported me. Because the company supported me, Pan Am knew the FAA was wrong, and they hired me.
Beginning 1974 I spent 3 years as a Training/Check Captain in Pan Am's San Francisco training department on the 707, then went back on the line after checking out on the 747.
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