QUOTE (lazair @ Oct 14 2003, 07:24 PM) | ||||
Aviation Safety Letter 3-2003 What wires? by Garth Wallace My first passenger, that drizzly morning, owned a cottage on a remote lake. He and I were sitting in a four-seat floatplane, which was tied to the dock. The weather had started to lift but we were waiting for more ceiling and visibility before taking off. He talked. I listened. This was his first time using the air service. I live in the city, but I come north to my cottage every chance I can get, he said. I always drive my car to the marina at the other end of my lake and then go the last five kilometers by motorboat. When I come to town for supplies, I often stop here to watch the airplanes. I decided to charter an airplane some day as a little adventure for myself, so here I am. He said he didnt mind waiting for the weather. He had never flown before and was enjoying being part of the goings-on at the air service. He considered the delay a bonus. Normally we flew customers to their fishing camps or cottages and returned empty. At the end of their stay wed fly back empty and pick them up. This did not seem cost-effective at all to this customer, so he had arranged just one flight. I was to fly him to his cottage, drop off his gear and then he was going to fly back to town with me to pick up his car, and finish the trip his normal way. This gave him two airplane rides for the price of one and avoided the cost of another roundtrip flight to bring him out. The weather soon picked up enough to depart. I signalled the dock boy to cast us off. When we were clear, I fired up the engine and taxied out. My passenger showed an interest in the airplanes controls and instruments so I explained the basics while circling to warm up the engine. Our load was light. We departed easily. The customer stayed glued to the window, looking down on the lakes and forest rolling by, throughout most of the trip. He had shown me on the map that his cottage was on the long arm of a large lake. I had never been there before. When we arrived I flew a slow pass over his section of the water before landing. His face lit up when he saw his place from the air. I inspected the long bay for rocks, logs and wire crossings, while my passenger checked out what his neighbours were doing to their properties. The dark water looked deep and clear on that grey morning. I did not see any obstructions. There was no wind so I set up an approach toward the open end of the bay, touched down smoothly and stopped close to my mans dock. We unloaded his things and re-boarded for the return flight. It was an easy takeoff. There was no boat traffic, the airplane was light and I had the entire length of the bay and four kilometres of lake beyond. Conversation in flight was difficult over the noise, but I pointed out some of the local landmarks as we flew back to the base. After landing, the passenger thanked me while we taxied to the dock. He was visibly excited by the flight. I always wondered if the pilot would fly over or under the wires crossing the bay when I took a plane into my place, he said. I didnt reply. I felt the colour drain from my face. There were no wires crossing the bay; at least I hadnt seen any. I contemplated how close we might have come to snagging hydro lines. We must have passed them on the landing and the takeoff. Shivering at the thought, I was late cutting the power on my approach to the dock. The dock boy knew what was going to happen next. The left float whacked the tires along the side and mounted the planks. The airplane stopped at a crazy angle, with the left float almost clean out of the water. I opened my door and hopped down. The dock boy helped me horse the airplane back into the water. My passenger said nothing but smiled nervously as he climbed out and scurried off to his car. He is the only one who knows how close we came to the wires, but he may never fly again. He thinks that docking a floatplane is dangerous. The chief pilot talked to me later. I heard you were rearranging the docks this morning. I told him the whole story. I did everything you taught me about approaching a new destination. I could not see any wires. What else could I do? You could have asked. Asked who? Who knew there were wires? Garth Wallace is an aviator, public speaker and freelance writer who lives near Ottawa, Ontario. He has written seven aviation books published by Happy Landings (www.happylanding.com). He can be contacted via e-mail: garth@happylanding.com. Wires, wires, wires what the floatplane pilots nightmares are made of |
Aviation Safety Letter 3-2003
More lessons learned in 2002...
The following occurrence descriptions were randomly selected from the TSBs-Class 5 investigations for the year 2002. As you will see, there are very few new accidents. The occurrences have been slightly edited and de-identified, just enough to protect the innocent, the foolish or the simply unlucky aviators. Some locations were left in where needed for proper context.
A Piper PA18-150 had departed Fort Nelson Gordon Field (CBL3), with 2 people on board. On touchdown at an unimproved farm field, the pilot was not satisfied with the speed of the aircraft and decided to abort the landing. Shortly after liftoff, the aircraft struck a power line, control was lost and the aircraft overturned into a small pond. Both occupants sustained minor injuries, and the aircraft was substantially damaged.
Aborting a landing is OK, as long as you have room for it. - Ed.
A Nanchang CJ6A (Yak 18) aircraft was on a local familiarization flight with the pilot/owner occupying the rear seat and his passenger occupying the forward crew position. The aircraft crossed over Osoyoos Lake and commenced a climb toward rising terrain on the east side of the lake. During this climb, the airspeed decreased rapidly. The aircraft made a slow turn to the right and entered a box canyon where it subsequently stalled and crashed. The pilot sustained serious injuries; the passenger was released with minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed.
Considering the past history of flying into box canyons, these two people were lucky. If you fly in mountains, valleys and canyons, you must be twice as vigilant about knowing your aircraft performance capacities. Ed.
A DHC-2 Beaver amphibious float-equipped aircraft departed the Sudbury airport, in Ontario, and was destined to Lake Temagami. After takeoff, the landing gear was not retracted. Upon touchdown on the water surface at Lake Temagami, the aircraft nosed over and came to rest in an inverted position. Egress from the aircraft was unhampered and the uninjured pilot was picked up by boaters who observed the occurrence.
Amphibious aircraft are wonderful, until
you land on the water with the wheels down.-Ed
A Cessna 180 on floats was landing westbound on the Fraser River at the Pitt Meadows float base. Shortly after the aircraft descended out of the tower controller's view, behind a tree line along the riverbank, an ELT signal was received in the control tower. The left float had dug in upon touchdown and the aircraft nosed-over and eventually became inverted. The two occupants had time to exit the cabin and were rescued uninjured by a water taxi about 40 minutes after the accident. Both occupants had been wearing the lap and shoulder restraint belts, and the pilot was wearing an inflatable coat.
Good example of use of safety and emergency equipment. - Ed.
As a Cessna 206 was about to touch down on a 1 200-ft-long dirt strip, the sun broke through the clouds, blinding the pilot. When vision was restored a few seconds later, the aircraft was poorly positioned and the pilot aborted the landing. The aircraft could not out-climb the uphill slope of the strip, and impacted shrubs and small trees at the end. The aircraft was substantially damaged, and the occupants, who wore the available shoulder harnesses, were uninjured.
A setting sun can seriously affect your vision. See the article on proper sunglasses in this issue of ASL. - Ed.
The crew of a Bombardier CL-415 was taxiing for departure at Pickle Lake, Ontario, for a local firefighting flight. As the aircraft was manoeuvring, its left wingtip struck a standing Bell 205A helicopter, which was parked on the ramp. No injuries resulted. The CL-415 sustained damage to its left wing. The Bell 205A sustained damage to its main rotor system.
Taxiing in tight quarters? If unsure of clearance, use a marshaller. - Ed.
A DHC-2 Beaver on floats was en route from Holinshead Lake to Kashishibog when the pilot encountered deteriorating weather conditions. As the flight progressed, the ceiling became increasingly lower until it was nearly at tree top level. Shortly thereafter the pilot located a cabin at the destination outpost camp. On final approach to the camp, the aircraft struck the water while in a turn, tearing off one float, and it eventually sank. The pilot and four passengers exited the aircraft and attempted to swim ashore. While swimming, one of the passengers went missing and was not located.
Continued flight into deteriorating weather conditionswhy? Ed.
A Piper PA28-180 was en route from Pickle Lake, Ontario, to International Falls, Minnesota. Approximately 16 NM north of the Fort Francis airport, the engine lost power and the aircraft was forced to land on a logging road. Two of the three people on board received minor injuries and the aircraft was substantially damaged. The operator advised that the aircraft had run out of fuel.
Run out of fuelwhy? Ed.
A Cessna 182 aircraft was in level flight at 10 500 ft, preparing for a parachute jump. A jumper was outside the aircraft on the step and holding on to the strut in preparation to jump, when his parachute deployed prematurely, pulling him rearwards off the step. The helmet of the jumper struck the horn of the right-hand elevator, injuring the jumper and damaging the elevator. The right-hand elevator was buckled and torn off the outboard hinge, but the pilot was able to control the aircraft and land safely, noticing only a restriction during the flare. The critically injured jumper was found about eight hours later.
The reason for the premature opening of the parachute was not in the report. If you fly in support of sport parachuting, look into this with the Canadian Sport Parachuting Association. Ed.