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Instructor job coming open in Seattle!
Debris that hit porch was from helicopter
KOMO 4 News
AUBURN — A metal bar that crashed through the roof of an Auburn couple's home was a piece of equipment from a helicopter, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday.
Mary Hornbrook says it's a good thing she forgot one of her tools when she was tending to the plants on her porch Sunday afternoon.
The 82-year-old woman stepped back inside to get the tool when there was "just a big boom and the house shook," Hornbrook said. "I wondered what it was and so I went out to look, and here was this thing sticking in the porch."
The "thing" was a 3-foot steel rod that crashed through her roof and stuck in the floor just a few feet from her plants.
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the orange rod was a ground handling wheel bar that fell off of a helicopter that had taken off from the Renton Airport.
The bar is used to help move the helicopter on the ground and should not have been attached to the aircraft when it took off.
The Schweizer 269C helicopter was up for a training flight and had an instructor and student on board, Fergus said. He would not comment on how investigators determined which aircraft was responsible.
It was not known whether the pilot would be cited for the incident, Fergus said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
The Hornbrooks, though, were stunned by the incident. "I've never seen something so crazy in all my life like this," said Bill Hornbrook, 92. "And I've seen crazy things."
Mary is still thankful she had to go back inside for a gardening tool at just the right time.
"I just thought I was lucky not to be doing what I was intending to do," she said.
In The Rivers mobile home park where she lives on I Street Northeast, residents are used to lots of air traffic from small planes, helicopters and even larger planes that are much higher up in the air.
"They are a bother," Mary said. "First the noise, now falling objects. It really scared the both of us."
KOMO 4 News
AUBURN — A metal bar that crashed through the roof of an Auburn couple's home was a piece of equipment from a helicopter, officials with the Federal Aviation Administration said Monday.
Mary Hornbrook says it's a good thing she forgot one of her tools when she was tending to the plants on her porch Sunday afternoon.
The 82-year-old woman stepped back inside to get the tool when there was "just a big boom and the house shook," Hornbrook said. "I wondered what it was and so I went out to look, and here was this thing sticking in the porch."
The "thing" was a 3-foot steel rod that crashed through her roof and stuck in the floor just a few feet from her plants.
FAA spokesman Mike Fergus said the orange rod was a ground handling wheel bar that fell off of a helicopter that had taken off from the Renton Airport.
The bar is used to help move the helicopter on the ground and should not have been attached to the aircraft when it took off.
The Schweizer 269C helicopter was up for a training flight and had an instructor and student on board, Fergus said. He would not comment on how investigators determined which aircraft was responsible.
It was not known whether the pilot would be cited for the incident, Fergus said, adding that the investigation was ongoing.
The Hornbrooks, though, were stunned by the incident. "I've never seen something so crazy in all my life like this," said Bill Hornbrook, 92. "And I've seen crazy things."
Mary is still thankful she had to go back inside for a gardening tool at just the right time.
"I just thought I was lucky not to be doing what I was intending to do," she said.
In The Rivers mobile home park where she lives on I Street Northeast, residents are used to lots of air traffic from small planes, helicopters and even larger planes that are much higher up in the air.
"They are a bother," Mary said. "First the noise, now falling objects. It really scared the both of us."
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Avoid imitations
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Polish Air Force?
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Knock!
Reckon Grandma heard the knock?
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Scary thing is - it's really easy to forget that little locking pin which ensures that the bar will stay on the aircraft (yes they do ride along, nestled behind the RH step). Worse yet is when, after lots of use, the holes in the bar and the step wear out to the point where the pin will come out on its own (I hear it can take about 1,800 hours or four years of constant use).
I also hear from someone I know well that it is an awful feeling to arrive back from a flight sans bar...
...a few days of worry to say the least.
The pin is on the preflight checklist.
I also hear from someone I know well that it is an awful feeling to arrive back from a flight sans bar...
...a few days of worry to say the least.The pin is on the preflight checklist.
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That's a priceless picture! You can almost hear the sound the pole made as it slammed into the porch like some kind of freakishly large orange arrow: "PWOINNNNNNNG!"
"Quick Ma, git into ther house! Them chopper's attackin' us!"
"Quick Ma, git into ther house! Them chopper's attackin' us!"
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Things pilots forget
Thirty years ago I was doing 'touch-&-goes' in a little C150 with an instructor. We noticed another Cessna taxing along with the tie down stakes clattering happily along behind on their ropes from the wing eyelets.
I wanted to do a full stop so we could watch what happened when it took off but the instructor wouldn't be in it. Shouldn't laugh I guess 'cause a month later I was having a trouble getting a warrior to taxi when I suddenly had this haunting thought?! But no, no tiedowns, I'd just forgotton to take the park brake off.
I wanted to do a full stop so we could watch what happened when it took off but the instructor wouldn't be in it. Shouldn't laugh I guess 'cause a month later I was having a trouble getting a warrior to taxi when I suddenly had this haunting thought?! But no, no tiedowns, I'd just forgotton to take the park brake off.
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There once was an Aberdeen based Bristow S-61 that made a round trip to the rig with the Tail Rotor Gust Lock installed.
The 'pole' in your photo looks like it's connected to some sort of ground trolley.
The offending pole is part of the ground-handling wheels (which remain attached to the aircraft). After jacking/unjacking the wheels, the pole is then secured in a 'rack' which is attached to the skids.
HTH,
B73
Edited to add this photo. You can just make out the orange pole (with a black grip) secured to the upper most horizontal section of the starboard skid:
Last edited by Bravo73; 21st Sep 2006 at 09:48. Reason: Added photo
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I've seen someone (fixed wing) taxi away from the fuel pump with the grounding clip still attached...
took off, flew around a bit, landed, then reattached the clamp to the grounding wire
took off, flew around a bit, landed, then reattached the clamp to the grounding wire
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Nope.
The 'pole' in your photo looks like it's connected to some sort of ground trolley.
The offending pole is part of the ground-handling wheels (which remain attached to the aircraft). After jacking/unjacking the wheels, the pole is then secured in a 'rack' which is attached to the skids.
The 'pole' in your photo looks like it's connected to some sort of ground trolley.
The offending pole is part of the ground-handling wheels (which remain attached to the aircraft). After jacking/unjacking the wheels, the pole is then secured in a 'rack' which is attached to the skids.
