KICL

On August 31, 2024, KICL (Clarinda, IA) hosted the Fly Iowa event organized by the Iowa Aviation Promotion Group (IAPG). It was both a fun and exciting trip to Clarinda. I was delighted to fly there since Clarinda is only about 30 miles from KSDA (Shenandoah, IA), where I went to high school and graduated.

The trip to Clarinda was uneventful; we took off before the Temporary Flight Restriction (TFR) over Ames took effect. However, the return journey was more eventful. We traveled with the Ames Flyers Club, which my wife and I advise at Iowa State University. After taking off from KICL to head back to KAMW, we noticed that another group of students had already departed in a Cessna 182. About five minutes into the flight, we heard them declare an emergency. As advisors, our first concern was for the safety of the students. Thankfully, we learned that the emergency was due to the spinner falling off their aircraft, and they were able to land safely back at KICL.

This situation presented a new problem: we had students stranded at KICL. We decided to fly back to KAMW to drop off our own students. Afterward, our airplane and another one returned to KICL to pick up the stranded students. We had to coordinate with Air Traffic Control since the TFR was still in effect at KAMW, but that part was relatively straightforward. In the end, everyone made it home safe and sound.We had to work with ATC as the TFR was still in effect at KAMW, but that was the easy part. In the end, everyone got home safe and sound.