Safety Archives - Page 16 of 31 - Golf Hotel Whiskey

Bad landing on a snow-covered runway

General Aviation News has recently published an excerpt from a March 2009 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) accident report about an incident involving a Piper Navajo and a snow covered runway in Buckland, Alaska that is well worth repeating even though spring is almost here. According to the accident report:

The commercial pilot was attempting to land on the snow-covered runway. He applied the brakes but the airplane did not slow. It was about 500 feet from the departure end of the runway when the pilot realized that stopping was going to be a problem, but he elected not to abort the landing. The airplane slid off the end of the runway into a snowbank.

Luckily there were no injuries but the aircraft did suffer from substantial damage.

Upon closer examination of the runway, the pilot noticed that it was covered with light snow over ice. However, the pilot also pointed out that he had landed there the previous day and that the runway condition was acceptable. Moreover, he stated that he had not received any reports or instructions about braking action for the airport on the day of the incident. Nevertheless, the FAA Information Supplement for the airport notes that it is unattended and recommends a visual inspection prior to landing.

In other words and if you are flying in winter, be sure to check the runway conditions at the airport you intend to take off and land from – especially if it is unattended.

Jet blast tips a Cessna on its wing

General Aviation News will often post summaries of accident reports from the USA’s NTSB and recently they posted a summary of an incident involving a Cessna 172 in Tucson, Arizona, that is well worth mentioning – especially if you fly in and out of airports where there are much larger aircraft. In the incident, a student pilot accompanied by a flight instructor had just landed and were cleared to taxi to a ramp. However, they also had to taxi past a MD-80 aircraft that was holding short of the runway. According to the investigation:

The student pilot applied aileron control inputs for possible jet blast from the MD-80. The CFI advised the student pilot to stop the airplane due to the MD-80. As the Cessna slowed to a stop, the MD-80 increased engine thrust to taxi onto the runway and the jet blast tipped the Cessna over onto its right wing.

Apparently, the tower controller reported that he began to clear the MD-80 for takeoff while he scanned the runway to ensure that all crossing aircraft were clear. He then looked back to see the Cessna taxiing right behind the MD-80. The controller stated that he then stopped issuing a takeoff clearance but by then the MD-80 had already powered up. Hence, it was ruled that the CFI’s “inadequate situational awareness while taxiing” had led to the encounter with jet blast.

In other words and if you will be flying in or out of a busy airport where there are large aircraft present, be sure to maintain situational awareness and lookout for those jet blasts.

11 lessons from a fatal Cirrus crash

Rick Beach has written an extensive and must read article for the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA) website listing eleven lessons from a Cirrus crash last May 25, 2010, that led to two fatalities (The crash was also covered extensively in two COPA forum threads: Cirrus Fatal #61 in SR20 C-GYPJ near Buttonville Airport, Toronto, Canada and Transport Canada report on Buttonville SR20 accident). To quickly summarize the incident: The SR20 had departed the Buttonville Aiport in Canada after avionics maintenance with two pilots aboard. However, a cylinder fractured causing a loss of engine power and the pilots attempted to return to the airport. Instead, they lost control, attempted to perform a recovery and ended up impacting the roof of a commercial building.

Rick wrote extensively about eleven lessons that can be learned from the crash but here is a quick summary of his key points:

Lesson #1: Diligently maintain your aircraft but remember that there are some failures that are extremely rare events. Nevertheless, you should still plan for them.
Lesson #2: Mechanical things will fail and you must both plan for this as well as practice your emergency procedures.
Lesson #3: Two (or more) pilots in an aircraft may create both confusion and different responses. Hence, be sure to do a briefing on the ground to determine who is the PIC, who will make the key decisions in the event of an emergency and how the other pilot(s) will contribute in such a situation.
Lesson #4: If your aircraft does not have any power, you must act immediately.
Lesson #5: Practice the emergency procedures. In particular, prepare for a situation where there is partial engine power loss and be ready to correct such a situation within seconds.
Lesson #6: When preparing to land at an unfamiliar airport, be sure to look at the terrain and land use off the ends of the runways as you come in so that you can see what will be underneath you when you depart.
Lesson #7: Be sure to prepare a departure briefing for each and every airport and departure. In addition, note the CAPS altitude of 500 feet AGL.
Lesson #8: Think about your decision criteria for using CAPS in an emergency during both takeoffs and departures. Remember, no one has died when CAPS was activated below 133 knots and above 1000′ AGL.
Lesson #9: Pull early – especially if you have altitude and are faced with a risky off-airport landing. You need just 8 seconds and a few hundred feet of altitude above ground.
Lesson #10: Remember, CAPS can be used to reduce your impact energy.
Lesson #11: Do everything you possibly can to avoid stalling your aircraft and then losing control.

Rick’s entire article is a must read – especially if you fly a Cirrus aircraft.

Strategies for avoiding turbulence

Nobody likes to fly through or experience turbulence in the air. Hence, a recent and lengthy post by John Ewing about strategies for avoiding turbulence is well worth reading. John began by noting the importance of first getting yourself thoroughly briefed about weather conditions before taking off and the fact that there are a number of sources of information about the potential for turbulence while flying.

John then went into considerable detail about each of the following tips for when the ride starts to get bumpy:

Ensure your seat belt is snug and tight (before the turbulence starts).
Secure loose items in the cockpit.
Slow down to at least the published maneuvering speed (Va) for your aircraft at your estimated weight.
When you use the controls, think of dampening out the variations instead of trying to overcome them.
Avoid using flaps in turbulence.
Be patient and try to stay as relaxed as possible.

John also noted that you will be doing your fellow pilots a favor by reporting instances of turbulence but he also pointed out that less experienced pilots who are flying smaller aircraft will frequently over-report the intensity of turbulence plus pilots in more rigid, composite airframe aircraft (such as Diamond and Cirrus) will tend to report a rougher ride that their aluminum-flying compatriots. Hence, John suggested that pilots can avoid over-reporting turbulence by using the objective criteria from the Aeronautical Information Manual, section 7-1-23.

At the end of his post, John concluded by saying:

Turbulence can become a serious risk factor; it is distracting, it adds to your workload, and it’s tiring. Combine turbulence with instrument meteorological conditions and/or night time and the risks for single-pilot operations only get worse. If you find turbulence scary and uncomfortable, join the club! There’s no shame in being afraid, but there’s seldom any excuse for not anticipating or expecting turbulence.

In other words, turbulence can often be managed but there is no shame in delaying or even cancelling a flight in order to avoid it. Not only will you be taking the safest option but your passengers will probably thank you for doing so!

Off-centered landing leads to an off the runway excursion

General Aviation News will periodically reprint accident reports from the USA’s NTSB and recently they noted the following accident that involved a Cessna 152 in Ellensburg, Washington that resulted in substantial damage to the aircraft but no injuries:

The student pilot, who was practicing touch-and-go landings in calm winds, inadvertently landed near the left edge of the runway. During the landing roll, he did not correct back to the runway centerline. When he added power for takeoff, the airplane veered off the runway. The terrain was rough and the airplane’s nose-wheel collapsed.

In other words, watch for that runway centerline!

Why aerobatics in a GA aircraft is a bad idea

In case the thought of performing an aerobatic maneuver with your aircraft has ever crossed your mind, a recent post by Ron for his House of Rapp blog will have you thinking otherwise. Besides the the fact that there are regulations against such activities, Ron noted the practical considerations and assumed that a pilot would be flying a Cirrus SR-22.

For starters, he pointed out that non-acro planes like the Cirrus SR-22 will tend to have non-symmetrical airfoils that are not designed to fly aerobatics. They will also tend to have slower roll rates as well as lower structural integrity under high G loads and less control authority. However, Ron also noted three well known aerobatic pilots who perform or performed aerobatics in non-acro planes but he also quickly added that:

Sean Tucker will tell you that the Columbia may not recover from spins of more than one or 2 turns. Duane Cole said the Bonanza (in which he did inverted ribbon cuts) had barely enough elevator authority for the maneuver, and it required incredible strength to hold the nose up far enough for inverted level flight. Bob Hoover tailored his performance to maneuvers the Shrike could do — he’ll tell you he avoided many aerobatic maneuvers because of the airplane’s limitations.

Ron then noted that negative Gs will send stuff flying about the cabin – including the pilot if he or she is not tightly secured by the seatbelt. Moreover, the engine of a general aviation aircraft is not set up for fuel and oil flow under negative Gs which could also move the entire engine/prop on the engine mount.

Ron ended his post by noting that:

I could go on, but suffice it to say that the more I learn about aerobatics, the less I would want to do them in a non-aerobatic aircraft. Sure, if performed perfectly, you might be just fine. But any unusual attitude is going to be far more difficult — if not outright impossible — to recover from.

In other words, leave the aerobatic stunts to professional aerobatic pilots flying the right type of aircraft.