The Reider Report brings you real stories told by real pilots. Join host Rob Reider and guests every two weeks as they explore hard-won cockpit experiences and the vital lessons we learn when things don’t go as planned. Authentic, collaborative, and educational—this is aviation storytelling for all pilots.
Épisodes
Runway or the Highway - Another Engine Out Story
29 oct. 2026 · 35 min
Retired air show performer Bill Leff experienced an engine failure on his T-6 Texan just a few miles from Oshkosh. Though he was close to another airport, he had to make a difficult decision: land on Highway 41 or stretch the glide and attempt to land at Fond-Du-Lac. Rob Reider drove to Dayton,…
Save the Plane or Save Yourself
15 oct. 2026 · 42 min
Guest Brian Norris joins host Rob Reider and talks about having an engine failure while ferrying the aerobatic biplane of one of most famous - and greatest - aerobatic air show performers of the last 50 years, Sean D. Tucker. His options were few. Fortunately he was wearing a parachute. But he was…
The Impossible Turn - Yes or No?
1 oct. 2026 · 32 min
A pilot had just launched from Lake Hood, Alaska when, only a few hundred feet above the surface, the engine malfunctioned. He couldn’t land straight ahead because of the frigid Alaskan waters. Further compounding his plight, he was squeezed between Anchorage International and Elmendorf Air Force…
Not Quite NORDO
17 sept. 2026 · 33 min
You might have the latest and greatest in equipment in your airplane but if you can’t transmit audio to ATC, all that cool stuff isn’t particularly useful. It’s what happened to an instrument-rated pilot and his instrument instructor on a cross-country flight. The checklist told them what to do…
A Fire and a Key Fob
3 sept. 2026 · 52 min
An in-flight fire in a part of a Beech Baron where one would least expect it and the part that a key fob played in the total loss of avionics in a Cirrus SR22 are the stories related in this episode by flight instructor Elliot Danner. He also shares some very valuable lessons to all pilots -…
A Nearly Failed Ferry Flight
20 août 2026 · 43 min
Test pilot, retired rocket scientist, and award-winning air show performer Bob Carlton recounts the unforeseen travails of a cross-country ferry flight that brought to life lessons he’d only learned about in ground school. What should have been a leisurely 3-day trip turned into a 2-week odyssey…
Saratoga Surprise
6 août 2026 · 33 min
A newly-minted, Atlanta-based instrument pilot on a business trip to northern Ohio encountered weather that included unexpected ice accumulation. It caused a loss of control that could have killed him and the five others aboard his Piper Saratoga. Doug Armstrong joins host Rob Reider to share what…
Incorrect Instrument Indications
16 juil. 2026 · 40 min
A pilot took off in his Columbia 400 and noticed that the airspeed and altitude numbers looked a little off. He managed to handle the discrepancy during the cruise portion of his flight but when he began his descent, the airspeed indicator said he was in excess of Vne. Things felt right but…
Fifteen Thousand Hours and Still Learning
9 juil. 2026 · 37 min
It doesn’t matter how many hours you’ve logged — there’s still more aviation you haven’t seen or experienced. Join host Rob Reider and his guest, Mark Blois-Brooke, as Mark tells about a downwind landing attempt, a serious maintenance faux-pas in a Beech Baron, a student who messed up an engine…
Dead Stick and Almost Dead
25 juin 2026 · 47 min
CFI Dan Bass is today's guest as he relates how he almost lost his life because carbon monoxide poisoning rendered him unconscious as he was returning home from a day-long business trip. He also recounts an engine failure at 14,500 feet, and what he did right—and wrong—in handling this emergency.…
An Arrow and a Stone Wall
11 juin 2026 · 57 min
A pleasure flight with co-owners of a Piper Arrow nearly turned deadly when the pilot realized he was too low to make a safe landing on an old grass field. But when he initiated the go-around, he heard a loud thump. He looked out at the left wing and the left flap was up! Asymmetrical flaps and a…
Confidence or Complacency?
28 mai 2026 · 27 min
Twenty-one year-old Mason Rowe is the guest on this episode. He’s a flight instructor, has about 300 hours in Cessna Citations, and will soon join a major cargo airline to be type-rated in the Boeing 737. He recounts 2 stories of engine issues in a small plane that has caused him to reconsider how…
Why Do Those Houses Look So Big?
14 mai 2026 · 37 min
The crew of an Air National Guard C-130 Hercules was on a nighttime precision cargo drop practice mission. En route, they found themselves significantly lower in altitude than they should have been, putting their lives in jeopardy. What happened caused some changes in procedures and how missions…
The Killing Zone
30 avr. 2026 · 28 min
Analytics - it’s an important word in almost every business. The same is true in aviation. On today’s episode, Rob Reider talks with Dr. Paul Craig, PhD, who shares some of the not-so-flattering statistics for pilots who have between 50 and 350 hours of flight time. He’s compiled thousands of…
ATC—Sequencing is the Scenario
16 avr. 2026 · 38 min
Air Traffic Control in the USA is an extremely challenging job for the men and women who help manage nearly 50,000 flights daily in the U.S. alone. In the busiest airports, coordinating departures begins before any airliner pushes back from the gate. Joining host Rob Reider is retired JFK…
Attitude Check with Julie Boatman
2 avr. 2026 · 34 min
If you own an airplane, you’ve doubtless become very comfortable with the panel, whether it be steam gauges or glass. But if you fly an airplane with which you are less familiar, you’ve got a bit of catch-up to do to feel proficient in your scan. In today’s episode, Rob interviews a pilot who had…
The Case of the Confounding Crosswind Component
19 mars 2026 · 33 min
How many times have we jumped in an airplane for a short flight without doing complete flight planning? Most of the time there are no consequences. But what would you do if you thought you’d done due diligence in your planning and something changed en route? Divert? Go back to where you started?…
To Sump or Not to Sump With Randy Groom
5 mars 2026 · 39 min
Today’s episode contains two stories, one with a Cessna 150 that involved a problem that led to an off-airport landing and another in a Beech Bonanza that had a sudden loss of oil pressure and an engine that blew apart. Join host Rob Reider as he interviews the pilot who experienced both of these…
Expectation Bias—A Lesson from an Air Force Fighter Pilot
19 févr. 2026 · 31 min
Knowing the maintenance history of an aircraft plays a significant role in this episode. Host Rob Reider speaks with former Air Force pilot Alan Gurevich who shares what happened when the F-4 he was piloting landed and he encountered what he thought was a brake failure. He’ll also share how an…
Getting “Behind the Airplane” With Tim Delaney
5 févr. 2026 · 26 min
Getting “behind the airplane” is something no one wants to do. But when flight conditions change unexpectedly a pilot’s workload increases, sometimes to the point of being in danger. Today’s guest got into a such a situation when, in IMC, he was given vectors for an approach he didn’t have time to…