Several years ago, I had a job that required me to travel. Sometimes my company would hire a local pilot with his own twin engine beachcraft to ferry us to this or that place. I'd flown with him 5 or 6 times, he was one of the best, most competant, coolest pilots i'd ever seen.
We'd gone somewhere, don't remember where. It was myself, the pilot, and two other guys from my company. When it was time to go home, we got in the plane, lined up on the runway and took off. When we got @ 50 feet in the air, I looked out the window on my side, and saw a streak of oil blowing out on the wing from under the cap. Well, you can imagine this made me just a little concerned.
I tapped the pilot on the shoulder and pointed to the wing. He did a double take, and immediately got on the radio and announced an emergency landing. He got clearance right away and started his turn. I wasn't all that bothered, until a minute later, I noticed a little bead of sweat trickling down his forehead. Then I got REALLY nervous! It was the first time I'd ever seen this pilot break a sweat! All the sudden, visions of engine sieze and corkscrewing into a field flooded my head.
I white knuckled my arm rests and held on for dear life. When the pilot made his final turn, I could see the emergency vehicles pouring out onto the field.
We touched down light as a feather and taxied to the maintenance hanger to have the plane inspected again. The whole incident lasted less than 5 minutes.
I think that was maybe the longest 5 minutes in my life!
