Was flying in a very tired Yak-42 when there was a large boom from the tail area. Cabin then started filling with smoke. One of the engines failed in spectacular fashion but everything was contained. The next day, however, we woke up to smoke coming from the direction of the airport and a CNN International report about a plane going down. Turned out the same plane had an engine failure on take off and crashed. No survivors.

Learned to fly at a very busy airport. When doing touch and go's one day, the pattern was full of all sorts of aircraft. Around my 5th, tower requested I do a 360 turn for spacing. Acknowledged the request and left the pattern. During this time, my flight instructor and I kept a mental note of all the aircraft around us and tower did his best to call out traffic. We did not have TIS or any other collision avoidance system besides the Mk1 Eyeball. As I was reentering the downwind, I did the standard traffic check which so many pilots forget because it becomes so routine.

Instead of clear sky, I saw a Piper Comanche. Instinctively, I firewalled the throttle and pulled a hard turn. To this day I still remember making eye contact with one of the Piper's passengers and seeing the look for fear on his face. Turns out the Piper requested a departure following the runway's heading. Without radioing the tower, he decided to do a touch and go. Tower was too busy with all the IFR traffic to notice the Piper deviate from his expected course and reenter the traffic pattern. After landing and taxiing back to the ramp. I sat there shaking. My CFI who was a F4 Phantom driver who saw combat over Vietnam told me after an experience like that, just sit a while. Eventually I pulled myself together and headed into the terminal.