"Avoiding Holiday Travel Hazards" New webinar Coming on November 5
I will present the next event in the Avemco "Pilot Talk" webinar series on Thursday, November 5 at 8:00 PM Eastern Standard Time (7:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM Mountain, 5 PM Pacific, 0100 UTC). For full details and to register, click here and scroll down the page.
"Birds, Bullets, and Bears" is Coming December 1
The final webinar event in the Avemco "Pilot Talk" series for 2020 is coming Tuesday December 1. Guest presenter Bryon Schwartz, Avemco Senior Aviation Underwriter, will present this extremely interesting webinar featuring some of the unusual insurance claims he has seen, photos included. For full details and to register, click here and scroll down the page.
Sometimes It's the Little Things Part 2
Last month we featured the first of a three-part series called, "Sometimes It's the Little Things." We have completed and posted Part 2 of that series on our YouTube channel. Check out Part 2 here.
Keep it Centered!
I monitor the daily ASIAS accident/incident reports posted on the FAA website. There seems to be an uptick in the number of runway excursions upon landing. Airplanes are running off the end of runways and also going off the sides and into the grass, weeds, brush, or fences. I do not know why there seems to be an increase in runway excursions, or even if there is really an increase in these events, but there seem to be more occurrences than I normally see. A runway excursion is embarrassing at best and dangerous and expensive at worst. The NTSB has a good Safety Alert publication from 2017 on the subject. Check it out on their website.
How are Airplanes Like Old People?
Don't be offended. I can ask that question because I am one of those old people. The answer is that, with one exception, neither airplanes nor old people like the cold. That exception is of course that the airplane performs better in cold air than in warm air. (Not so much for us old people.) But for it to perform better in that cold air that we are finding more frequently this time of year, we must actually get into the air. So, let's not forget about the importance of pre-heating the engine, removing frost, ice, or snow from out airplane, and not ignoring a frozen fuel drain. As for the latter, we must remember that fuel does not freeze. If the fuel drain is frozen it is because of water and we must deal with that before we fly.
Being a Pilot in the Age of COVID
My annual visit to the family doctor came due in March. Wellness visits were not being conducted in my area due to a high infection rate of the COVID-19 virus, so my visit was postponed. Medical facilities have generally opened up again in my area so I went for my visit last month. I have been going to the same doctor for the past seventeen years and he is a very caring guy. He was visibly upset when he came into the examining room. He had just received word that one of his patients had died. He explained that several of his patients had passed over the recent months because they had not received the care that they should have had during the pandemic. None of the patients had been infected with the virus, but they had opted out of exams and treatments for fear of contracting the virus. He said he believed that those individuals should be counted as deaths due to the pandemic, even though they were not infected.
In military terms, those deaths might have been considered collateral damage. That got me wondering what other areas might have also suffered collateral damage from the COVID-19 virus. We will probably never have any statistics to prove or disprove this, but maybe some general aviation accidents could be considered collateral damage. Many pilots flew very little or not at all during the worst of the pandemic. Much recurrent training was skipped or postponed. Likewise, aircraft maintenance was skipped or postponed. As airplanes sat unused outdoors, how much rodent infestation or bird habitation occurred? Did water accumulate in fuel tanks?
For those of us who have been fortunate to escape the virus, at least so far, let’s make sure that we do not become collateral damage by having an aircraft accident. We need to make sure that we are not rusty in our flying skills or knowledge before we launch off on a trip. That is doubly true for a trip involving instrument flying. We need to make sure that the airplane we are going to fly is good-to-go. Is the annual inspection up to date? If the airplane has not been flown regularly, it is a good idea to remove some inspection panels and have a good look inside. We need to do a thorough check of the engine compartment to check for signs of unwanted visitors such as mice or birds. Look for any evidence such as droppings, and any foreign material such as straw or feathers. Look for any wires or other material that appears to have been chewed. We should do the same examination under the instrument panel with a good flashlight. We should take a sample from each fuel drain and inspect it for water or debris, then jiggle the airplane well, wait a couple of minutes and check each drain again. We also should make sure that the battery has a good charge. If the battery is dead or weak, it is much better and safer to get the battery charged than to start the engine by hand-propping. In addition to being dangerous, hand-propping may get the engine running but will not allow the battery to become fully charged before takeoff. This can cause problems with gear retraction, airplane electronics, or other things.
So, if we have been successful in navigating our way around the virus, let’s not become collateral damage by having an accident caused by neglect of our skills or our airplane condition.
It is too soon to have any final reports on accidents in the age of COVID so the examples presented next illustrate an accident that resulted from a lack of recent flying experience and an insufficient preflight inspection.
Accidents discussed in this section are presented in the hope that pilots can learn from the misfortune of others and perhaps avoid an accident. It is easy to read an accident report and dismiss the cause as carelessness or as a dumb mistake. But let's remember that the accident pilot did not get up in the morning and say, "Gee, I think I'll go have an accident today." Nearly all pilots believe that they are safe. Honest introspection frequently reveals that on some occasion, we might have traveled down that same accident path.
This accident happened in Virginia in October of 2015. The accident involved a Maule M5. The private pilot and sole occupant received only minor injuries but the airplane was substantially damaged. The private pilot stated that this was his first flight in over a year due to cataract surgery. He planned to do a few touch and go landings to regain currency before departing on a local flight.
Photo Source: NTSB
According to the NTSB accident report, the pilot said that upon his first attempt to land, he failed to maintain clearance of a cattleguard fence that was located at the end of the grass runway. The airplane's main landing gear snagged the cattle-guard causing the nose of the airplane to dive into the ground. The airplane then nosed over inverted and came to rest upside down, resulting in substantial damage to the
firewall, both sets of wing struts, the vertical stabilizer, and the rudder.
Photo Source: NTSB
The pilot said there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane and the accident was due to his lack of recent experience and ability to judge the airplane's height above the cattle-guard.
The NTSB Probable Cause finding states: "The pilot's failure to maintain clearance of a cattle-guard fence on landing. Contributing to the accident was his lack of recent flying experience."
What can we take away from this accident to help make us safer? The primary lesson here is that legal does not necessarily mean safe. Providing we have a current flight review, the regulations permit us to fly solo regardless of how much time has passed since we last piloted an airplane. If we have not flown is some time, regardless of the reason, it is wise to take a competent flight instructor along on the first flight.
Accidents discussed in this section are presented in the hope that pilots can learn from the misfortune of others and perhaps avoid an accident. It is easy to read an accident report and dismiss the cause as carelessness or as a dumb mistake. But let's remember that the accident pilot did not get up in the morning and say, "Gee, I think I'll go have an accident today." Nearly all pilots believe that they are safe. Honest introspection frequently reveals that on some occasion, we might have traveled down that same accident path.
This accident could have ended in tragedy, but fortunately no one was seriously injured. The airplane involved was a Piper PA-22 Colt. That is the two-place version of the venerable Piper Tri-Pacer. The pilot was preparing to take his two grandsons, ages 10 and 13 flying. Yes, it is a two-place airplane and regulations required that each of those kids have their own seat and seatbelt.
As the pilot performed his preflight inspection, he discovered three baby birds in the cockpit. He removed the birds and looked for a nest, which he did not find. The NTSB accident report continues the narrative: "Immediately after takeoff, about 100 ft. above ground level, a fire started within the engine compartment,
and smoke began to enter the cockpit. The pilot turned the airplane back toward the runway, but lost
control as the airplane touched down because his visibility was limited by the smoke. The occupants
egressed the airplane, which was subsequently consumed by fire. Postaccident examination of the
wreckage revealed remnants of a bird nest between the exhaust manifold and the engine firewall, which
was the likely origin of the fire."
Photo Source: NTSB.
The NTSB Probable Cause finding states: "The pilot's inadequate preflight inspection, which resulted in an inflight fire due to the presence of a bird nest in the engine compartment."
Photo Source: NTSB.
Bird nests in an engine compartment can be very dangerous. Sometimes they are elusive, but if the airplane has been parked for a while, extra care must be taken. On the NTSB Pilot/Operator Report filed with the NTSB, the pilot indicated that he had only flown one hour in the past 90 days and had not flown in the past thirty days. It does not appear likely that anyone else flew the airplane during the past 90 days. In the case of this accident, finding baby birds in the cockpit should have been a strong clue that there was a nest somewhere in the airplane.
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