Originally Posted by
N707ZS
Obvious the prop doesn't reach the tow bar. Amazed the pilot didn't here the tow bar scraping along the taxiway and runway.
I've read AAIB reports of GA pilots taking off with the tie down weights still attached to the wings. You would have thought the banging and scraping could be heard over the engine but apparently not.
To err is what humans do and to catch the errors before they become accidents is what we strive do to in the operational environment. The runway inspection should have picked up on the error made by the pilot but didn't. That's because the inspection was performed by a human, and he erred. As often happens in Aviation, a mistake was made, all involved survived, the AAIB identified the root causes and we all get to learn a valuable lesson. Painting tow bars in high visibility markings will help both pilots and runway inspection drivers less likely to make the same mistake again.