When I was fresh out of my PPL training and out in Florida hour building, I visit various airports ending up in the Florida Keys. There are two days left before I need to be at the airport for my commercial flight back to the UK. So it’s time to return the airplane to Ormond. There is a weather front moving down from the North and after a flight briefing when “marginal conditions possible together with embedded thunderstorms” are mentioned, a route suggested by the Flight Briefer is up the West Coast, through the frontal system and then a right turn in clearer conditions over to Ormond. Ok, we take off into cloudy sky from Marathon, but no problems as the clouds are well above us. As we fly up the coast, the clouds are getting lower and visibility is getting worse, I reduce altitude to remain VFR and things are not looking anything like as good as my expectations but then the briefer did say that it was clearer the other side of the weather front and the front is exactly where the briefer said it would be and we only had about another 5-10 miles before conditions improve so I press on! Visibility gets worse and I descend to 1000ft agl but conditions continue to deteriorate, worse still, it starts to rain, I do a 180 turn but the weather behind had also closed in! The clouds are visibly descending. I can’t fly and look for the radio frequency of a close airport to land and in any event, I had turned 180 degrees and now exactly where was I? I had descended to 600' agl and could only just make out the ground beneath. I called up 121.5 fearful that I would be too low to be in radio contact with anyone. Luck was with me, my transmission was picked up by Ft Myers International ATC who gave me a frequency change and I then explained the problem and my altitude to the controller who gave me a transponder squawk and identified my position, I had to descend to 300’ in heavy rain to maintain visual with the ground. The controller kept in contact with me and gave me constant vectors to avoid radio and TV towers. Following the controller’s instructions, I arrived right at the threshold of the runway at Ft Myers. By that time the rain had turned to hail and there was lightning flashing. I have to say that I was thought constantly that a crash was a realistic conclusion to my crisis! In the event, it was an uneventful landing and I taxied to the apron and waited for the hail and lightning to abate before securing the airplane. I thanked the controller for my life and his skill to which his response was simply “that’s what we’re here for” That was the end of my flying, fortunately only for that day and I stayed overnight in Ft Myers before setting off the next day to return the airplane and report to the airport for my flight home.
Needless to say that I underwent substantial instrument training after that misadventure and now avoid flying at all when thunderstorms are predicted. I don’t think I will ever get over the trauma of the hail and lightning! I do however have the greatest respect for the people at ATC to whom I undoubtedly owe my life! My advice to anybody is never ever press on into marginal VFR conditions unless properly instrument trained and current. Furthermore don’t even think about going close to thunderstorms especially the embedded variety! It very nearly cost me my life!
In answer to the original post, I didn’t even consider the consequences or penalties of low flying or using 121.5 – my only consideration was my life and how to extend it! In the event, I did not suffer even a verbal slapping for the low flying or stupidity elements of my airmanship.