dmussen
25th Oct 2007, 07:21
Fun in Bme. today. A 208 Float hung a leg/legs after take-off and got back on the deck after circling and much looking from the ground by engineers.
All safe but some very frightened Pax.
"Always keep the no. of landings equal to the no. of take-offs"
werbil
25th Oct 2007, 13:40
some very frightened Pax
Why?
Amphibs are notorious for undercarriage hiccups. Salt water and lubricants are not a good mix, neither are salt water and aircraft alloys (including hydraulic fittings), and neither are salt water and electrical gear indicating systems (208's with Wipline floats are not fitted with mirrors as standard).
A leg stuck down is almost a non event (unless you try to land on water) - select gear down, check that they are all down and land on land. A leg stuck up is also almost a non event - select gear up, check that they are all up and land on water (but harder for the engineers). A mix match is the worst option, most likely caused by a leak and a lack of hydraulic fluid. Fortunately Wips are designed so that when the electric hydraulic pump starves there should still be sufficient fluid remaining for the emergency hand pump to operate the gear. If it is a blown line, selecting the opposite gear selection (the chances of both an up and a down hydraulic line failing at the same time are extremely low) and pumping the hand pump (up to 500 times) should result in all up or all down. If it is still mix matched the only option is to land on land.
The only reason for the pax to be "very frightened" is if the pilot scared them by his actions or breifing. I have had gear position indication problems in flight and spent a few minutes diagnosing them (mirrors and pressure gages are great tools) - generally I advised the pax what I was doing and irrespective of whether I did or not none of them showed any signs of fear. I also know of pilots that have had legs stuck up, legs stuck down and leaks significant enough to starve the electric hydraulic pumps.