Pre Flight Inspection Discoveries
A baggage handler taking a dump in the aft cargo hold of a 757 in Banjul. We carried round trip catering and used to monitor the transfer of it. More of that later.
His excuse was ( and probably entirely valid ) that he had dysentery and had to get out of the sun.
Begged us not to tell the police as they would have meted out a severe beating. So we didn’t. Just told him to get it cleaned up.
Northbound the FO’s steak on his crew meal had a perfect human size bite mark out of it. Maybe explains why this poor unfortunate had had the sh@ts ?
His excuse was ( and probably entirely valid ) that he had dysentery and had to get out of the sun.
Begged us not to tell the police as they would have meted out a severe beating. So we didn’t. Just told him to get it cleaned up.
Northbound the FO’s steak on his crew meal had a perfect human size bite mark out of it. Maybe explains why this poor unfortunate had had the sh@ts ?
Flying a Downed Aircraft Recovery of a Huey from a small jungle clearing by Chinook....enroute to our destination at 3000 feet AGL....when over the Intercom is heard....."Hey Mr. Sasless....is this guy supposed to be riding in the Pilots seat of this Huey?".
Long hot tiring day and no desire for being the target of a flight crew prank......replied "Yes....absolutely!
Glance in the Rear View Mirror....seen all three crew members intently looking down through the Cargo Hook Hatch and talking off intercom.
Curtly ordered the gunners back to their stations and inquired of the FE exactly what he was up to.
He insisted they were looking at some guy down in the Huey cockpit....and I reaffirmed Amateur Comedy Hour was not for a few hours later.
Finally at the insistence of the FE....I unstrapped...walked back thinking if it was a prank then it was going to be the FE riding the Huey...and peered down below and there was a fellow happily waving up at me and having the ride of his life.
Seems Private Snuffy was told to climb into the Huey and hold the flight controls by his Platoon Sergeant.....who reverted to Private shortly after I reported the incident.
Long hot tiring day and no desire for being the target of a flight crew prank......replied "Yes....absolutely!
Glance in the Rear View Mirror....seen all three crew members intently looking down through the Cargo Hook Hatch and talking off intercom.
Curtly ordered the gunners back to their stations and inquired of the FE exactly what he was up to.
He insisted they were looking at some guy down in the Huey cockpit....and I reaffirmed Amateur Comedy Hour was not for a few hours later.
Finally at the insistence of the FE....I unstrapped...walked back thinking if it was a prank then it was going to be the FE riding the Huey...and peered down below and there was a fellow happily waving up at me and having the ride of his life.
Seems Private Snuffy was told to climb into the Huey and hold the flight controls by his Platoon Sergeant.....who reverted to Private shortly after I reported the incident.
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Huey had flown some seventy hours with crews commenting on a high freq, chap walking down the flight line one day commented "some thing wrong with that aircraft, don't know what", following some contemplation and comparison with other aircraft on the line realised the tail rotor blades reversed.
Looking up the mast of a Huey seeing the split cones had slipped out of place when the head had been dropped on.
Always had a night standby aircraft all prepped for immediate take off in the event of emergencies, a 76 in this case, if called out you arrived at work, pulled the plugs and went. Chap called out, flew the trip, medical emergency, commented on return the thing needed tracking, pilot taking over the aircraft found powder on all four elastomerics, investigation found all four blades were missing the retention/support bearings in the head. One wonders about the track and balance following the head rebuild.
212 high freq following take off, pilot landed, screw driver left in tail rotor drive tunnel, had cut half way through the drive shaft in five minutes
205 on fixed floats with a load of pax for a quick circuit joyride, engineer standing on float doing an engine leak check after start, pilot took off and flew the circuit with engineer hanging on. Shades of the lass who got a ride around the circuit sitting on the tail of a Spitfire.
Fed inspector castigating engineering because the single engine Cessna parked on the flight line minus engine and cowling didn't have an unservicable tag.
Looking up the mast of a Huey seeing the split cones had slipped out of place when the head had been dropped on.
Always had a night standby aircraft all prepped for immediate take off in the event of emergencies, a 76 in this case, if called out you arrived at work, pulled the plugs and went. Chap called out, flew the trip, medical emergency, commented on return the thing needed tracking, pilot taking over the aircraft found powder on all four elastomerics, investigation found all four blades were missing the retention/support bearings in the head. One wonders about the track and balance following the head rebuild.
212 high freq following take off, pilot landed, screw driver left in tail rotor drive tunnel, had cut half way through the drive shaft in five minutes
205 on fixed floats with a load of pax for a quick circuit joyride, engineer standing on float doing an engine leak check after start, pilot took off and flew the circuit with engineer hanging on. Shades of the lass who got a ride around the circuit sitting on the tail of a Spitfire.
Fed inspector castigating engineering because the single engine Cessna parked on the flight line minus engine and cowling didn't have an unservicable tag.
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Asymmetric rudder movement on a condor when new on type; conducted pre GFT flight above stratus layer with 1,000ft base. Pupil eventually persuaded me to allow a spin in the opposite direction..took three turns with two right feet pushing on the pedals to recover less than 300ft above cloud layer. Some clown had adjusted the brake linkage without telling anyone or any qualifications. ( 20+ years later same guy died in a spinning accident).
What I didn’t find was a 22mm spanner under the rear seat of a K13…about the third instructor who hadn’t turned himself upside down to check that some idiot had rigged the glider hadn’t checked the tools back into the ammo box.
Mate found brake fans not working on a Trident - wheel nuts not tightened up after change and wheel skew stopping fan turning.
Found U/C pins in place..reported to skipper…ordered to jump over item in checklist…after engine start suddenly remembered fortunately…thrown up to cockpit DV window by engineer.
Found oil level on engine 2 below limits during engineering strike; captain ordered me to falsify it in technical log and sign it..refused. Departed to AMS with oil level below limit..engine didn’t go bang but during outside check unable to open rear freight hold..bung door..loaders had sabotaged the hold by not securing baggage net which had allowed the load to shift reward on rotation.
Not outside check but CofA found modification to airbrakes had been incorrectly performed which would have eventually led to failure and unwanted extension - the mod was mandatory after two fatalities.
Got airborne so many times paragliding with things I should have picked up I could write a book ; worst was on the Garden route at Wilderness after having two instructors anchor me on take off in very strong conditions which saw me bounce off a lamp standard, flying backwards narrowly missing hôtel roof…god can be kind to the foolish old farts.
PS I DI a grob twin glider fairly fresh after an annual in Worcester SA and noticed what a neat job had been done on the normally protruding canopy hinge bolts..mountain soaring and aerobatic instructional flight followed by landing on the tarmac with the duty instructor getting into a flap on the radio to clear the runway toute d'suite which we did with canopy open but supported..it fell off..another boll@cking until I examined hinges to find that the bolts had been removed, epoxy glue then car filler used to fill the holes. Mouthy Duty instructor was a car dealer and had decided to modify the glider himself. Rather fortunately it had not failed at VNE.
What I didn’t find was a 22mm spanner under the rear seat of a K13…about the third instructor who hadn’t turned himself upside down to check that some idiot had rigged the glider hadn’t checked the tools back into the ammo box.
Mate found brake fans not working on a Trident - wheel nuts not tightened up after change and wheel skew stopping fan turning.
Found U/C pins in place..reported to skipper…ordered to jump over item in checklist…after engine start suddenly remembered fortunately…thrown up to cockpit DV window by engineer.
Found oil level on engine 2 below limits during engineering strike; captain ordered me to falsify it in technical log and sign it..refused. Departed to AMS with oil level below limit..engine didn’t go bang but during outside check unable to open rear freight hold..bung door..loaders had sabotaged the hold by not securing baggage net which had allowed the load to shift reward on rotation.
Not outside check but CofA found modification to airbrakes had been incorrectly performed which would have eventually led to failure and unwanted extension - the mod was mandatory after two fatalities.
Got airborne so many times paragliding with things I should have picked up I could write a book ; worst was on the Garden route at Wilderness after having two instructors anchor me on take off in very strong conditions which saw me bounce off a lamp standard, flying backwards narrowly missing hôtel roof…god can be kind to the foolish old farts.
PS I DI a grob twin glider fairly fresh after an annual in Worcester SA and noticed what a neat job had been done on the normally protruding canopy hinge bolts..mountain soaring and aerobatic instructional flight followed by landing on the tarmac with the duty instructor getting into a flap on the radio to clear the runway toute d'suite which we did with canopy open but supported..it fell off..another boll@cking until I examined hinges to find that the bolts had been removed, epoxy glue then car filler used to fill the holes. Mouthy Duty instructor was a car dealer and had decided to modify the glider himself. Rather fortunately it had not failed at VNE.
Last edited by blind pew; 21st Dec 2022 at 08:40.
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I think the prize goes to the RNZAF crew on a pre-flight walk around who noticed a strange silver mark on the MRB that turned out to be a crack that extended almost totally through the D spar and also much of the skin structure of the MRB at the attachment pin location. The cause was identified as disbonding of the MRB grip pad, leading to all the load being transferred by by-pass loads at the pin, which initiated cracking.
These guys were prob ably one flight away from disaster.
Merry Christmas
Blakmax
These guys were prob ably one flight away from disaster.
Merry Christmas
Blakmax
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Kemayoran Airport, Jakarta, circa 1980-ish. Pilot walks out to a Bell 212 for an offshore flight, gets in and starts the first engine which gets to flight-idle before pilot realises the main rotor is not turning. Pilot shuts-down said engine and gets out to find the tail rotor is still tied-down! Pilot unties said tail rotor, gets back into the helicopter and continues the flight. You can't make this up, can you?
You can't make this up, can you?
cordless drill left on a 76 swash plate was my biggest surprise over the years. I crept into the hangar with the drill under my jacket and handed it to a trusted mechanic, who I'm sure returned it to its owner.
Upper Michigan BUFF base mid winter -20f or so Getting off crew bus to preflight, the crew chief decided to moon us via the copilots window.
He became stuck to the window and needed the window heat turned on to free him.
EC-135 took off and felt intermittent chatter in the cyclic during turns. The ac had returned earlier from phase maintenance 5 days earlier and had flown numerous times by the other shift pilots.
Had maintenance look over the ac and they found a spool of safety wire in the flower vase on the head. The other pilots said they noticed something but didn’t follow up on it.
He became stuck to the window and needed the window heat turned on to free him.
EC-135 took off and felt intermittent chatter in the cyclic during turns. The ac had returned earlier from phase maintenance 5 days earlier and had flown numerous times by the other shift pilots.
Had maintenance look over the ac and they found a spool of safety wire in the flower vase on the head. The other pilots said they noticed something but didn’t follow up on it.
BK117 Machine swap.
I flew the first leg to the main base. The then Co-Pilot went in the waiting helicopter and started it up - I joined rotors running.
Because of my relatively big feet I don't fiddle them through the bend in the cyclic but move them over the seat so I noticed only short after T/O.
I told him, that he has to return - there's something wrong. It took some pointing out until he saw it too....
The cyclic on the Co-Pilot-Side was installed 180 degrees turned ....
Guess he skipped the full and free movement part of the checklist....
I flew the first leg to the main base. The then Co-Pilot went in the waiting helicopter and started it up - I joined rotors running.
Because of my relatively big feet I don't fiddle them through the bend in the cyclic but move them over the seat so I noticed only short after T/O.
I told him, that he has to return - there's something wrong. It took some pointing out until he saw it too....
The cyclic on the Co-Pilot-Side was installed 180 degrees turned ....
Guess he skipped the full and free movement part of the checklist....
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worked with the pilot of this incident, looped it twice before pancaking on a rooftop.
ATC has the recoding of the incident via keyed Mike.
Date: 14-APR-2000 Time: 16:12 Type:
Bell 222UT Owner/operator: Lifelink III Registration: N225LL C/n / msn: 47539 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Category: Accident Location: St Paul, MN -
United States of America Phase: En route Nature: Ferry/positioning Departure airport: St. Paul, MN (PVT) Destination airport:
Investigating agency: NTSB Confidence Rating:
Accident investigation report completed and information captured Narrative:
During cruise flight the pilot lost control of the helicopter and an uncontrolled forced landing was made onto the top of a two-story industrial warehouse. The pylon mounted actuator support assembly had separated from the transmission case. The support assembly, attachment hardware, and portions of the transmission case were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for analysis. According to the NTSB Materials Laboratory Factual Report, "... all of the studs showed progressive fatigue cracking from multiple origins." The report stated, "All but one stud fracture ... showed progression from diametrically opposed sides, typical of reversed bending fatigue loads." The report stated that all of the stud and dowel holes in the actuator support were, "... elongated on opposite sides from contact with the respective dowel or stud." The report further stated, "In addition to the elongation of the holes, the faying surfaces of the support and the transmission case were severely worn from relative movement. The directions of indicated movements and wear correspond to the axis of elongation of the respective support holes." The lead mechanic for the helicopter reported that one of the dowel pins was found during routine maintenance approximately one year prior to the accident date and the maintenance staff did not determine the identify the source of the dowel pin.
Probable Cause: The loss of clamp-up force between the transmission case and the pylon mounted actuator support assembly which resulted in fatigue failure of the threaded studs and dowel pins, the failure of the flight control system, helicopter control not being possible after the flight control failure, and the inadequate maintenance procedures by the company maintenance personnel.
ATC has the recoding of the incident via keyed Mike.
Date: 14-APR-2000 Time: 16:12 Type:
Bell 222UT Owner/operator: Lifelink III Registration: N225LL C/n / msn: 47539 Fatalities: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 Other fatalities: 0 Aircraft damage: Substantial Category: Accident Location: St Paul, MN -
United States of America Phase: En route Nature: Ferry/positioning Departure airport: St. Paul, MN (PVT) Destination airport:Investigating agency: NTSB Confidence Rating:
Accident investigation report completed and information captured Narrative:During cruise flight the pilot lost control of the helicopter and an uncontrolled forced landing was made onto the top of a two-story industrial warehouse. The pylon mounted actuator support assembly had separated from the transmission case. The support assembly, attachment hardware, and portions of the transmission case were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for analysis. According to the NTSB Materials Laboratory Factual Report, "... all of the studs showed progressive fatigue cracking from multiple origins." The report stated, "All but one stud fracture ... showed progression from diametrically opposed sides, typical of reversed bending fatigue loads." The report stated that all of the stud and dowel holes in the actuator support were, "... elongated on opposite sides from contact with the respective dowel or stud." The report further stated, "In addition to the elongation of the holes, the faying surfaces of the support and the transmission case were severely worn from relative movement. The directions of indicated movements and wear correspond to the axis of elongation of the respective support holes." The lead mechanic for the helicopter reported that one of the dowel pins was found during routine maintenance approximately one year prior to the accident date and the maintenance staff did not determine the identify the source of the dowel pin.
Probable Cause: The loss of clamp-up force between the transmission case and the pylon mounted actuator support assembly which resulted in fatigue failure of the threaded studs and dowel pins, the failure of the flight control system, helicopter control not being possible after the flight control failure, and the inadequate maintenance procedures by the company maintenance personnel.
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Same squadron, back in the '90s, but none of which involved me....
H-53E tail rotor blade installed backwards. Flew ~6 times trying to get tail vibes within limits (unsuccessful), line rat discovered what the pilots could not.....
H-53E IGB only had 3 of 6 attachments installed, those that were there were only finger tight. Crew stopped during taxi to pad because of unusual vibrations....
H-53E tail rotor blade installed backwards. Flew ~6 times trying to get tail vibes within limits (unsuccessful), line rat discovered what the pilots could not.....
H-53E IGB only had 3 of 6 attachments installed, those that were there were only finger tight. Crew stopped during taxi to pad because of unusual vibrations....
Avoid imitations
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After flight rather than pre flight. An S76B belonging to a company I used to fly for was being cleaned in the hangar after flying all day. As the aircraft cleaner worked on the tail pylon he thought he felt it move. On investigation it was discovered that the only thing holding the top two thirds of the entire pylon (and gearbox plus tail rotor assembly) in place was the right side skin of the main box section - all the rest of the structure had completely failed. A lucky escape for the pilot (who occasionally posts on this very forum).
Similar story Shy, crew were loading pax onto a 212 for their second flight of the day when the tarmac hand informed the crew they might want to take a look at the fin, a foot long crack on the left side.
Not a pre-flight finding, but...an apocryphal tale.
Two CA$A FOIs were refreshing each other in an R-22 doing touchdown autos at Camden (small towered airfield SW of Sydney).
After a rather...firm...landing, the FOI calls "Ready."
"Are you sure?" says the tower.
"Yes, ready" says FOI.
"I don't think you are, the tail is lying on the ground behind you."
Two CA$A FOIs were refreshing each other in an R-22 doing touchdown autos at Camden (small towered airfield SW of Sydney).
After a rather...firm...landing, the FOI calls "Ready."
"Are you sure?" says the tower.
"Yes, ready" says FOI.
"I don't think you are, the tail is lying on the ground behind you."
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Nothing too exciting but could have been fairly painful. Did my walk round on a 33 Puma at Benson circa 2011 or so and noticed every single fastener on the tail pylon was unfastened. Was about the only time in my career I was rightfully grumpy with our wonderful engineers.
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Mate of mine had our engineer up for a larger maintenance on his R44. Towards the end of the day the pressure starts to mount as daylight is coming to an end and that final testflight still has to be done as said engineer is already booked on the morning flight out. So screws get all tightened, panels around the rotor mast put back on, they both hop in and fire her up.
A qick left hand circuit is performed without any abnormalities and the engineer in the passenger seat gleams; happy with himself that he managed to get the job done just in time. Right then during the last few feet of the final approach to the taxiway there is a sudden loud bang and the whole aircraft begins to wobble. My buddy barely manages to run it on from shoulder height to terra firma without balling it up and shuts down in a hurry.
During the ensuing in-depth post-flight inspection that should've rather been an in-depth PRE-flight inspection they finally find the culprit by way of discovering that the main rotor mast fairing has a large dent from inside out: lo and behold a certain someone had forgot to put the nut back onto the bolt that connects the control rod with the lower swash plate and a certain someone else didn't do a proper check of the work performed...
A qick left hand circuit is performed without any abnormalities and the engineer in the passenger seat gleams; happy with himself that he managed to get the job done just in time. Right then during the last few feet of the final approach to the taxiway there is a sudden loud bang and the whole aircraft begins to wobble. My buddy barely manages to run it on from shoulder height to terra firma without balling it up and shuts down in a hurry.
During the ensuing in-depth post-flight inspection that should've rather been an in-depth PRE-flight inspection they finally find the culprit by way of discovering that the main rotor mast fairing has a large dent from inside out: lo and behold a certain someone had forgot to put the nut back onto the bolt that connects the control rod with the lower swash plate and a certain someone else didn't do a proper check of the work performed...
Last edited by Hawkeye0001; 8th Jan 2023 at 23:18.
Something not discovered. Privately owned Jet Ranger had a 24V recepticle installed in the console panel next to the pilot's collective. Someone left the screw on cover cap off. All was ok until the woman in the left seat rearranged herself by putting her right hand down next to the collective and tried to relieve her discomfort by pushing down. A gold ring on her finger bridged the contacts and burned into her flesh until it melted enough for her to pull it off. Only took an jnstant. When the screaming died down and the pilot realized what had happened they went right to a hospital pad and were able to save her finger. I don't recall the breaker size but it failed to pop.
Something not discovered. Privately owned Jet Ranger had a 24V recepticle installed in the console panel next to the pilot's collective. Someone left the screw on cover cap off. All was ok until the woman in the left seat rearranged herself by putting her right hand down next to the collective and tried to relieve her discomfort by pushing down. A gold ring on her finger bridged the contacts and burned into her flesh until it melted enough for her to pull it off. Only took an jnstant. When the screaming died down and the pilot realized what had happened they went right to a hospital pad and were able to save her finger. I don't recall the breaker size but it failed to pop.
