"There I was..." An Aviation Podcast
Jul 14, 2026 · 33 min · 11 segments
Father-and-son pilots Michael and Ethan Russo recount an IFR flight that turned critical when their aircraft suffered a complete avionics failure at 8,000 feet in heavy rain.
Michael RussoGuest
David O'LearyHost
Ethan RussoGuest
Who got started first [chuckles] in, uh, in general aviation? Who was the pilot first, father or son?
Uh, I'm a marine surveyor, and I travel all around the Southeast inspecting, uh, motor yachts and, and cargo when there's damage.
Both Ethan and my daughter are, are now college athletes, but bef- prior to that, they were high school athletes.
And between traveling by car and trying to airline around, it was actually impossible.
So I'll-- I was looking at the sky and was like, "Hmm, I've always wanted to fly, so I guess now's a good time to see if we can make this work so I can get to the places I wanna go when I wanna go," versus around basically a nonexistent airline schedule or driving through all the traffic.
Michael, when you were going through your training and your, you know, exams and, and getting your private pilot certificate, did you ever have any idea or even a, a, an inkling that Ethan would be following in your footsteps down the line?
Um, so honestly, as soon as I started flying, I was like, "You know what? I, I, I think this is something that Ethan could really like," 'cause I don't know, Ethan can speak on this, but I don't know that he necessarily knew exactly what he, he wanted to do professionally.
I know we have several family businesses, but I, I, I was more inclined to have him kind of branch out on his own and do his own thing.
Um, there was a time where he was doing his, uh, private pilot cross country, and he's like, "Hey, you should come with me." And I went, and I was like, "What is this world?" Immediately hooked.
When it, when it's in the family like that, I mean, you can kinda call on each other a little bit, not only when you're flying, but even on the ground.
I suppose during your training, Ethan, did you ever have occasion to say, "Hey, Dad, can you walk me through how does this work or take me through airspace?" Or, you know, something like that where you kind of counted on each other to, to help each other with your studies?
Who got started first [chuckles] in, uh, in general aviation? Who was the pilot first, father or son?
Uh, I'm a marine surveyor, and I travel all around the Southeast inspecting, uh, motor yachts and, and cargo when there's damage.
Both Ethan and my daughter are, are now college athletes, but bef- prior to that, they were high school athletes.
And between traveling by car and trying to airline around, it was actually impossible.
So I'll-- I was looking at the sky and was like, "Hmm, I've always wanted to fly, so I guess now's a good time to see if we can make this work so I can get to the places I wanna go when I wanna go," versus around basically a nonexistent airline schedule or driving through all the traffic.
Michael, when you were going through your training and your, you know, exams and, and getting your private pilot certificate, did you ever have any idea or even a, a, an inkling that Ethan would be following in your footsteps down the line?
Um, so honestly, as soon as I started flying, I was like, "You know what? I, I, I think this is something that Ethan could really like," 'cause I don't know, Ethan can speak on this, but I don't know that he necessarily knew exactly what he, he wanted to do professionally.
I know we have several family businesses, but I, I, I was more inclined to have him kind of branch out on his own and do his own thing.
Um, there was a time where he was doing his, uh, private pilot cross country, and he's like, "Hey, you should come with me." And I went, and I was like, "What is this world?" Immediately hooked.
When it, when it's in the family like that, I mean, you can kinda call on each other a little bit, not only when you're flying, but even on the ground.
I suppose during your training, Ethan, did you ever have occasion to say, "Hey, Dad, can you walk me through how does this work or take me through airspace?" Or, you know, something like that where you kind of counted on each other to, to help each other with your studies?
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