Dutch pilot Narine Melkumjan shares moment the canopy her Extra 330LX suddenly opened during training flight.
A couple of years ago during her second aerobatic training flight of that day, on a very hot summer day, the canopy of her Extra 330LX opened in flight and shattered.
Narine explains that it was a challenging experience that could have been avoided if she made a proper visual check before taking off as the canopy locking pin had never gone into the locked position.
The pilot also said that she was flying without any eye protection made the flight even more challenging than it already was. It took her nearly 28 hours to fully recover her vision.
Due to all the noise it was difficult for Narine to hear her my coach instructions the radio, but it was basically “just keep flying”.
Nariné was originally born in Armenia, but resides in the Netherlands for over 20 years now.
Nariné became an EASA Certified Commercial Pilot holding the night, aerobatics, single engine piston land (SEP), multi engine piston land (MEP), Instruments SEP and Instruments MEP Ratings. Last, but not least, she also became an EASA Certified Flight Instructor(A).
In 2019 she flew her first international competition at the German National Championship, where she took the overall second place home. She was the only female pilot from 13 pilots participating in the Sportsman Category.
That same season she took part in the Dutch Open National Aerobatic Championship, where she won the championship in the Intermediate Category and became the first female pilot in the Netherlands to receive the English Trophy.