Watch a Pilot Lose His Engine, Free Fall, Somehow Survive

Biplane? More like BYE, PLANE.

March 22, 2018 9:00 am

When fellow passengers on commercial airplanes get nervous before takeoff, it’s excusable to let out the tiniest chortle. The chance of disaster is, of course, extremely unlikely.

Then a video like the one above — of pilot Chad Barber averting disaster in a biplane — hits the interwebs, and we realize we’re not such badasses after all.

The 26-year-old “aviation enthusiast,” according to the video’s description, was out practicing stunts in Coral Springs, Florida when, while pulling the plane into a vertical line, the engine cut out.

(Cue Anakin-esque flipping of switches and mashing of buttons.)

Watch the 45 seconds of terror above to see how it plays out, and listen closely for Barber’s own surprise when the engine powers back up in the nick of time.

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