Pre-flight SNAFU's that could have been FUBAR's
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Pre-flight SNAFU's that could have been FUBAR's
In the vein of 'I Learned About Flying From That' type things, I wonder what people are able to 'fess up to in the way of pre-flight (or any other stage of flight!) SNAFU's that very easily could have become someone's epitaph...
To get the ball rolling:
A few years ago in a place far, far away... no really
I was called in to do an ambulance flight in a C402. Raced to the airport, pulled her out of the hangar, pre-flighted, run-up, got the seats out and stretcher-kit in and was all-but finished refuelling with a mate doing the fuel-drains as the ambulance pulled in. It was one of those 'gotta go right now' jobs too, not a casual hospital transfer, so it was a pretty mad scramble to get everyone/everything where needed and secured, strap her on, start her up and go. To say i was not quite on top of my mental checklist would be fair. I backtracked down the runway and I was in the turn to line up with T/O clearance, doing a last visual quick scan around when the R tank fuel cap caught my eye -I had either forgotten to put it in at all (most likely) or not put it in properly. Either way, it wasn't where it should be. Fortunately it was a quiet day -the tower let me shut down on the runway, sort it out then get under way (after a more thorough final external security check!). Bl@@dy lucky... I really don't want to think about the consequences had I gotten airborne like that for me, the aircraft, passengers and most importantly, the patient. As it was, nothing worse than a bruised ego, a very red face and the print of my CP's boot on the seat of my strides for a bloody month!
I learnt.
Keen to hear others tales
To get the ball rolling:
A few years ago in a place far, far away... no really
I was called in to do an ambulance flight in a C402. Raced to the airport, pulled her out of the hangar, pre-flighted, run-up, got the seats out and stretcher-kit in and was all-but finished refuelling with a mate doing the fuel-drains as the ambulance pulled in. It was one of those 'gotta go right now' jobs too, not a casual hospital transfer, so it was a pretty mad scramble to get everyone/everything where needed and secured, strap her on, start her up and go. To say i was not quite on top of my mental checklist would be fair. I backtracked down the runway and I was in the turn to line up with T/O clearance, doing a last visual quick scan around when the R tank fuel cap caught my eye -I had either forgotten to put it in at all (most likely) or not put it in properly. Either way, it wasn't where it should be. Fortunately it was a quiet day -the tower let me shut down on the runway, sort it out then get under way (after a more thorough final external security check!). Bl@@dy lucky... I really don't want to think about the consequences had I gotten airborne like that for me, the aircraft, passengers and most importantly, the patient. As it was, nothing worse than a bruised ego, a very red face and the print of my CP's boot on the seat of my strides for a bloody month!I learnt.
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I remember when learning to fly I was on a solo cross country flight from Leavesden (much missed in my mind and with a decent runway unlike Elstree and and to a lesser extent Denham) to a nav point to the north then a landing at Ipswich (another long gone airfield), and then a landing at Southend and finally back to EGTI. All had been going well and was en-route from Ipswich to Southend so I relaxed a little and moved the seat back to have a little more room, anyway I landed at Southend and then went to apply the toe brakes as ATC had asked me to stop before the cross runway and turn left, but... I had not returned the seat forward and therefore could not apply the brakes properly! I somehow managed to get the seat forward despite it wishing to go further back due to the laws of physics and eventually applied the brakes and turned off just before the intersection. Maybe a case of getting a bit too relaxed..Aircraft was a Warrior.
Alex Ford
Alex Ford
Grandpa Aerotart
Must be 20 years ago now...I is getting old
I was carrying out a daily inspection on our company C185 and noticed a tiny, itsibitsi hydraulic weep from one of the brakes....she'll be right me thinks. Loaded up with 'stuff' and with a new company pilot in the RHS (1st few days in country) I taxi out at Chimbu enroute to Nomane (Central Highlands PNG).
Now Nomane was one of our more challenging mountain strips in an area strewn with mountain strips...definately 'one way' the strip started on the side of a deep gorge and ran gently up a 5% slope before turning around a 20+ degree corner and becoming a 20% slope with a cross slope (out camber/away from direction of turn) of about 3%. Down each side of the strip was a very deep rain barret...maybe 6' deep and 4-5' across...they had a cute little bridge you taxied across to access the parking bay. Elevation was about 7000' MSL and DA was more like 10-11000'.
Turning finals and pattering the approach I tested the brakes before passing the point on finals where no go around was possible due to surrounding terrain...worked good...landed in a nice, near stalled 3 pointer and the brake goes to the floor
...got us stopped and managed, somehow, to taxi back towards the parking bay but was not game to try crossing the bridge.
I Decided it was prudent to return to Chimbu empty...just me and my mate...so contemplated how that may be achieved...there was a crosswind of about 7-10 kts from the right on takeoff...which would, I Hoped, balance with the left to right transverse slope and we would be able to stay straight...you guessed it the left brake was the problem. I figured that between tailwheel steering and rudder I could keep it straight...so we taxied up to the very top of the strip...it was about 400m long...and parked across the slope while I gathered myself...taking a deep breath I poked the aircraft downhill and let it roll without much power initially just using the tailwheel steering...we groundlooped....We remained in the middle of the 20m wide airstrip but ended up rolling backwards down the slope...full power got us back up to the top and parked across the slope again.
My mate, who had been gently suggesting we remain and call for an engineer, now found voice again...nope that might take until tomorrow...we aint staying here until tomorrow.
I theorised
that the problem was not powering up quick enough and getting the rudder working...so I poked us down hill and shoved the throttle in full...we did another groundloop...this time a doozy...musta spun through 270 degrees before the tail pendulumed downhill and we again started 'reversing' down the slope.
Parked back at the top I was out of ideas...nearly...we couldn't taxi down the hill so I shut down. Now the whole village has been watching my machinations with rapt fascination so I whistled em all up to the top of the strip. They responded 'with alacrity'...it was like a scene from Zulu dawn
After describing what I wanted to do, in Melanesian Pidgeon, we 'walked' the C185 down to the bottom of the steep bit...opposite the little bridge...that left <100m to the end of the strip...and a 1500-2000' verticle drop into the gorge.
"Come on we're outa here!"
"We're what?"
Now I should say at this point that charging off cliff edge strips at something less than flying speed was common in PNG...but my new pilot didn't know that...yet...and I saw no reason to enlighten him...I was starting to have fun
We saddled up and I started the engine...the new guy was starting to whimper...I poured on the power and the lack of transverse slope made directional control easy with just tailwheel steering...I had just started to raise the tail as we charged off the edge of the cliff and dropped into the gorge to build up flying speed...flew off home and landed in a neat 3 pointer, nil wind, and spent the next hour fixing the errant brake.
I learned about daily inspections from that
I was carrying out a daily inspection on our company C185 and noticed a tiny, itsibitsi hydraulic weep from one of the brakes....she'll be right me thinks. Loaded up with 'stuff' and with a new company pilot in the RHS (1st few days in country) I taxi out at Chimbu enroute to Nomane (Central Highlands PNG).
Now Nomane was one of our more challenging mountain strips in an area strewn with mountain strips...definately 'one way' the strip started on the side of a deep gorge and ran gently up a 5% slope before turning around a 20+ degree corner and becoming a 20% slope with a cross slope (out camber/away from direction of turn) of about 3%. Down each side of the strip was a very deep rain barret...maybe 6' deep and 4-5' across...they had a cute little bridge you taxied across to access the parking bay. Elevation was about 7000' MSL and DA was more like 10-11000'.
Turning finals and pattering the approach I tested the brakes before passing the point on finals where no go around was possible due to surrounding terrain...worked good...landed in a nice, near stalled 3 pointer and the brake goes to the floor
...got us stopped and managed, somehow, to taxi back towards the parking bay but was not game to try crossing the bridge.I Decided it was prudent to return to Chimbu empty...just me and my mate...so contemplated how that may be achieved...there was a crosswind of about 7-10 kts from the right on takeoff...which would, I Hoped, balance with the left to right transverse slope and we would be able to stay straight...you guessed it the left brake was the problem. I figured that between tailwheel steering and rudder I could keep it straight...so we taxied up to the very top of the strip...it was about 400m long...and parked across the slope while I gathered myself...taking a deep breath I poked the aircraft downhill and let it roll without much power initially just using the tailwheel steering...we groundlooped....We remained in the middle of the 20m wide airstrip but ended up rolling backwards down the slope...full power got us back up to the top and parked across the slope again.
My mate, who had been gently suggesting we remain and call for an engineer, now found voice again...nope that might take until tomorrow...we aint staying here until tomorrow.
I theorised
that the problem was not powering up quick enough and getting the rudder working...so I poked us down hill and shoved the throttle in full...we did another groundloop...this time a doozy...musta spun through 270 degrees before the tail pendulumed downhill and we again started 'reversing' down the slope. Parked back at the top I was out of ideas...nearly...we couldn't taxi down the hill so I shut down. Now the whole village has been watching my machinations with rapt fascination so I whistled em all up to the top of the strip. They responded 'with alacrity'...it was like a scene from Zulu dawn
After describing what I wanted to do, in Melanesian Pidgeon, we 'walked' the C185 down to the bottom of the steep bit...opposite the little bridge...that left <100m to the end of the strip...and a 1500-2000' verticle drop into the gorge.
"Come on we're outa here!"
"We're what?"
Now I should say at this point that charging off cliff edge strips at something less than flying speed was common in PNG...but my new pilot didn't know that...yet...and I saw no reason to enlighten him...I was starting to have fun
We saddled up and I started the engine...the new guy was starting to whimper...I poured on the power and the lack of transverse slope made directional control easy with just tailwheel steering...I had just started to raise the tail as we charged off the edge of the cliff and dropped into the gorge to build up flying speed...flew off home and landed in a neat 3 pointer, nil wind, and spent the next hour fixing the errant brake.
I learned about daily inspections from that
Last edited by Chimbu chuckles; 18th Apr 2007 at 04:07.
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Ahhhhhh! Nope, can't think of any!
After a rushed pre-flight of my trusty Huey I got airborne, and was surprised to find something red flapping around the top part of the windscreen. Rushed preflight = pitot cover left on! Fortunately monitoring IAS is not as critical in a helicopter as compared to a fixed wing aircraft when on final to land, so the only thing hurt was my pride.
Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do a really short take-off in a fully loaded C402.
You can - least in terms of getting the wheels off the ground in a hurry!
Just take off with full flap down! Man do they leap into the air!
Don't know what would have happened if an engine had failed - but I suspect it would not have been pretty.
To this day I shake my head at how I missed it in the pre-TO checks.
Dr
You can - least in terms of getting the wheels off the ground in a hurry!
Just take off with full flap down! Man do they leap into the air!
Don't know what would have happened if an engine had failed - but I suspect it would not have been pretty.
To this day I shake my head at how I missed it in the pre-TO checks.
Dr
Same thing in a C150 many years ago... the first time i'd flown a 150. Flew out for lunch, but on the trip home, the thing left the runway all right, but just wouldnt climb. The 500 foot hill a mile off the end of the runway got awfully close real fast, until I realised I had taken off with full flap on.
Bled that up slowly, while turning to dodge the hill, and eventually got the poor little cessna to climb..
A different day, this time in a 172.
After landing, discovered that it was almost impossible to steer accurately, and had a terrible time trying to taxi off the runway. My astute copilot was the one to notice I had the parking brake on.
Somehow, I'd managed to TAKE OFF with the parking brake on, and hadnt noticed that.... but ever since that day, a check of the brake handle has been part of my line-up checks!
Bled that up slowly, while turning to dodge the hill, and eventually got the poor little cessna to climb..
A different day, this time in a 172.
After landing, discovered that it was almost impossible to steer accurately, and had a terrible time trying to taxi off the runway. My astute copilot was the one to notice I had the parking brake on.
Somehow, I'd managed to TAKE OFF with the parking brake on, and hadnt noticed that.... but ever since that day, a check of the brake handle has been part of my line-up checks!
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Not quite a pre-flight, but.....
Was paxing on an aeromed Kingair in the far west of Qld. When we finished all the various jobs in the community and headed back to the airstrip, the temp was in the mid forties outside, prob twice that in the aeroplane.
The pilot opened the door and nipped around pulling plugs and covers off while the pax climbed in; I grabbed the bags from the vehicle and piled in after everyone else; we were all pretty keen to get the aircon going!
I shut the door, checked the visual lock indicators, grabbed a rear-facing fwd seat and called into the cockpit to the driver that we were all buttoned up and ready to crank.
A sweaty minute or so went by, then there was a tapping sound at my window. I looked out....and there was the pilot, still outside.
Was paxing on an aeromed Kingair in the far west of Qld. When we finished all the various jobs in the community and headed back to the airstrip, the temp was in the mid forties outside, prob twice that in the aeroplane.
The pilot opened the door and nipped around pulling plugs and covers off while the pax climbed in; I grabbed the bags from the vehicle and piled in after everyone else; we were all pretty keen to get the aircon going!
I shut the door, checked the visual lock indicators, grabbed a rear-facing fwd seat and called into the cockpit to the driver that we were all buttoned up and ready to crank.
A sweaty minute or so went by, then there was a tapping sound at my window. I looked out....and there was the pilot, still outside.
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Had loads of time waiting for some pax to turn up for a spin in a Bonanza. When the opportunity presents itself like this, I like to do an ultra-thorough pre-flight. I pulled the prop through several times. Heard a whistle on one of the cylinders. Opened the cowl and had a look. Small crack in one of the cylinder heads. It probably would have continued to run through to the next 100 hourly, but it might not have done so.
Bottums Up
Bundaberg, circa 1989/90. End of the day's flying in foul wx with low cloud & rain, get a call from Fearless Leader (Chief Pilot).
'Can you go out and check the Islander, a woman has complained that she was nearly killed by a piece of metal that fell from an aeroplane, and BASI think it's an Islander exhaust.'
Claret wanders out muttering to self, how could a bit of exhaust be missing and not be noticed?
Claret is stunned
to realise he's been flying an aeroplane all day that was missing one exhaust stub.
The preflight inspection that morning was conducted very quickly in very wet conditions. It was obviously lacking in effectiveness.
'Can you go out and check the Islander, a woman has complained that she was nearly killed by a piece of metal that fell from an aeroplane, and BASI think it's an Islander exhaust.'
Claret wanders out muttering to self, how could a bit of exhaust be missing and not be noticed?
Claret is stunned
to realise he's been flying an aeroplane all day that was missing one exhaust stub. The preflight inspection that morning was conducted very quickly in very wet conditions. It was obviously lacking in effectiveness.
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Some beauts here guys -keep 'em coming!
Claret -you reminded me of the time I was in a BN-2 on the return leg of a tour when I noticed the R vacuum pump had 'fallen over' -not that big-a deal, CAVU day, still got a pump on the other engine. On reaching base with a couple of hours before the next scheduled departure I mentioned the non-performance of the pump to the engineer.
A couple of minutes later he wanders in & tells me 'the pump's missing' very casually... 'clever bugger' thinks me as I tell him 'I bloody know' -but no, he meant missing as in gone!!! Somewhere in the mountains the pump had seperated completely from its base-plate and vacated the cowl without me or any of my pax noticing!!! Never did hear anything about anyone being struck by a UFO so there's a possibility it'll never be found until a glacier pops her out in a few thousand years or so
Claret -you reminded me of the time I was in a BN-2 on the return leg of a tour when I noticed the R vacuum pump had 'fallen over' -not that big-a deal, CAVU day, still got a pump on the other engine. On reaching base with a couple of hours before the next scheduled departure I mentioned the non-performance of the pump to the engineer.
A couple of minutes later he wanders in & tells me 'the pump's missing' very casually... 'clever bugger' thinks me as I tell him 'I bloody know' -but no, he meant missing as in gone!!! Somewhere in the mountains the pump had seperated completely from its base-plate and vacated the cowl without me or any of my pax noticing!!! Never did hear anything about anyone being struck by a UFO so there's a possibility it'll never be found until a glacier pops her out in a few thousand years or so
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Had PA 28R once upon a time. Usual habit was to pull it out of the hangar and stow the towbar under straps in the rear cargo area.
This day, was giving it a wash first so after my pre-flight taxied under power to the concrete area where the tap was and made it all clean and shiny.
THEN, out comes the towbar again for the quick (25 ft) pull across to the fuel bowser. Filled er' up, checked the fuel, and off I went...............
Until I noticed someone behind the fence waving madly as I taxied away after my run-ups. They looked pretty agitated, so I stopped and cut the engine.
Got out and, you guessed it..........towbar still in the front axle. I'd taxied about 50m with it in, and was about to (try) and takeoff. Might even have got airborne, but more likely 'jacknifed' and busted the nose gear off or fouled it when I retracted the gear.
Sure was grateful for the eagle-eyed plane-spotter.
Shows how breaking away from normal/established patterns can spoil your day. Ever since, I NEVER get back into an aircraft without a walk-around.......
This day, was giving it a wash first so after my pre-flight taxied under power to the concrete area where the tap was and made it all clean and shiny.
THEN, out comes the towbar again for the quick (25 ft) pull across to the fuel bowser. Filled er' up, checked the fuel, and off I went...............
Until I noticed someone behind the fence waving madly as I taxied away after my run-ups. They looked pretty agitated, so I stopped and cut the engine.
Got out and, you guessed it..........towbar still in the front axle. I'd taxied about 50m with it in, and was about to (try) and takeoff. Might even have got airborne, but more likely 'jacknifed' and busted the nose gear off or fouled it when I retracted the gear.
Sure was grateful for the eagle-eyed plane-spotter.
Shows how breaking away from normal/established patterns can spoil your day. Ever since, I NEVER get back into an aircraft without a walk-around.......
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Just last week, in a new aircraft i had just purchased, completed my 3rd full stop touch and go, when on down wind, i decided the next one will be a complete stop, taxi back and normal take off, then a local flight to get the feel of steep turns (new aircraft is a single seater) take off seamed very short compared to the last 3, climb out was normal, in cruise i couldn't get past about 80 kts, (normal cruise was indicating 100 and VFE is 65kts) anyway, all went well, back to the airport, on base, went for the flap lever to select 20 deg, only to find the flap lever was already at the 30 deg mark..... i had flown the last 40 mins with fulll flap, and not only that, but took off with full flap... a big no-no in the POH..... 
my excuse it was an unfamiliar aircraft my 3 rd hour in it, a single seater and has very different control layout.....
inspections have shown no damage was done....
i learned about pre-take off checks again after that one! even if you were flying just minutes before!!
my excuse it was an unfamiliar aircraft my 3 rd hour in it, a single seater and has very different control layout.....
inspections have shown no damage was done....
i learned about pre-take off checks again after that one! even if you were flying just minutes before!!
Bottums Up
The mention of Jamair's kingair reminded me of a CHTR from TNK to DRW, new pax for chtr DRW-ASP.
TNK pax (CLP ministry) all late, such that the chtr ex DRW being on time is doubtful.
Pax turn up and advise they now want to stop at KTR to drop of the Fire Fighting researcher. Hearded them into Kingair, close the door, blast off.
Got to top of climb and had the door warning annunciator come on. F#^&. It was then that I remembered that in my haste to depart, I hadn't checked the door lock barrels. For non Kingair folk, the airstair door has a notorious warning system. If on closing the lock barrels are confirmed in position, a subsequent DOOR annunciation can be disregarded.
My dilemma now is, the AFM calls for descent to A100 and depresurisation. This means an on time departure from DRW for the next chtr is impossible. So I weighed up the options.
Having made the decision to descend, the annunciator went out and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Less than 10 mins later, the autopilot failed, and the aircraft rolled markedly. Had I decided earlier to leave my seat and investigate the door, recovery would have been doubtful!
TNK pax (CLP ministry) all late, such that the chtr ex DRW being on time is doubtful.
Pax turn up and advise they now want to stop at KTR to drop of the Fire Fighting researcher. Hearded them into Kingair, close the door, blast off.
Got to top of climb and had the door warning annunciator come on. F#^&. It was then that I remembered that in my haste to depart, I hadn't checked the door lock barrels. For non Kingair folk, the airstair door has a notorious warning system. If on closing the lock barrels are confirmed in position, a subsequent DOOR annunciation can be disregarded.
My dilemma now is, the AFM calls for descent to A100 and depresurisation. This means an on time departure from DRW for the next chtr is impossible. So I weighed up the options.
- Get one of the pax to check barrels - Not a good idea as the POH also says not to touch the door as it may open (this happened in the 80's in the US, captain went out the door and clung to the handrail to the ground).
- Disregard - not considered a good option.
- Leave seat, look at door myself - considered not too professional.
- Accept POH is the only way to go and initiate descent.
Having made the decision to descend, the annunciator went out and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Less than 10 mins later, the autopilot failed, and the aircraft rolled markedly. Had I decided earlier to leave my seat and investigate the door, recovery would have been doubtful!
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Another Kingair story
When we got our first B200C with the big cargo door, some of our pilots complained that the big door was dificult to close and latch properly. I had had no trouble with it and wondered what they were doing wrong.
I was soon to find out.
Late one afternoon I had loaded two stretcher patients aboard for an interhospital transfer, and the ambos and medics watched as I closed the big door and tried to latch it. It absolutely refused to latch, so I opened it again to the stares of all the medics, and checked that the mechanism was working ok. It was and the locks appeared when and where they should. I checked the door frame,and found nothing unuasal. So I tried again and it still refused to latch. I repeated the procedure, always with the same result. By this time the medics were getting quite concerned.
Finally I won. By peering inside the lower part of the door I spied a socket, that should have been in some LAME's toolbox.
It was rolling around in the botton of the door.
When the door was opened the socket rolled clear of the locking mechanism, so it all worked fine. But when the door was closed it rolled right back into place and prevented the locking mechanism from working properly.
I borrowed a pair of forceps from the medics, and was able to remove it, and everything worked fine from then on.
All the LAMES who had worked on the aircraft claimed that it was an inferior socket, and would not possibly find space in their toolbox.
I wonder how long it had been there.
I was soon to find out.
Late one afternoon I had loaded two stretcher patients aboard for an interhospital transfer, and the ambos and medics watched as I closed the big door and tried to latch it. It absolutely refused to latch, so I opened it again to the stares of all the medics, and checked that the mechanism was working ok. It was and the locks appeared when and where they should. I checked the door frame,and found nothing unuasal. So I tried again and it still refused to latch. I repeated the procedure, always with the same result. By this time the medics were getting quite concerned.
Finally I won. By peering inside the lower part of the door I spied a socket, that should have been in some LAME's toolbox.
It was rolling around in the botton of the door.
When the door was opened the socket rolled clear of the locking mechanism, so it all worked fine. But when the door was closed it rolled right back into place and prevented the locking mechanism from working properly.
I borrowed a pair of forceps from the medics, and was able to remove it, and everything worked fine from then on.
All the LAMES who had worked on the aircraft claimed that it was an inferior socket, and would not possibly find space in their toolbox.
I wonder how long it had been there.
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CC - Remind me of a story many, many years ago (not sure of veracity) chap flying a Dragon, no pax, and door came ajar. Nicely trimmed out, no such thing as auto pilot in those days, and strolled to the rear to fix said door. C of G moves, aircraft rears up pinning him against the rear bulkhead. Aircraft stalls, adopts the required nose down as required by certification where upon pilot finds himself hurled from the rear bulkhead to the forward. C of G thus restored aircraft regains trim speed and relieved pilot is able to reclaim his throne at leasure.