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From NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System�
In Search of... A Aviangels
The charter pilot who submitted the following report to ASRS
noted at the end of her narrative, “Guardian Angels: 1, Demons:
0.” Here’s her story of how a seeming misfortune was
transformed into a stroke of luck:
■ When taxiing for takeoff [at night], I lost sight of visual
references for taxiway and struck a taxiway light with the prop. I
returned to ramp for damage check. Purely coincidentally–after
the front passenger and I exited the aircraft, I observed fuel
flowing freely from the aircraft’s belly drain. I evacuated
remaining passengers and determined that the belly drain
actuator, which in the Cherokee Six is located on the front of the
passenger seat behind the co-pilot position, was stuck open.
Apparently the middle seat passenger must have, while boarding,
caught a shoe on the drain actuator cover, as the plastic cover was
half ripped off (one screw attached, one screw out) and the cover
had caught on and pulled open the handle. If I had not hit a light
and returned to check the prop, I would have flown my trip with a
wide-open fuel drain!
Contributing factors to the belly drain being kicked open: It is
poor design to have the drain’s actuator in a passenger area. No
one would suspect this freakish occurrence, leastwise a passenger,
who was unaware her seat housed an aircraft fuel drain. It
was dark and she wouldn’t have seen an open cover. This drain
should be actuated from outside the plane, like the four-tank
drains are.
Pilot acted properly in checking for damage after striking taxiway
light. Several pilots have mentioned that they might have
“just kept going as long as there wasn’t any vibration.” Prop
damage in this case required prop overhaul. And if I hadn’t
checked for damage, I might have run a tank dry on an
overwater flight, due to unrelated open drain.
We can suggest several possible preventives for this unusual
type of drain actuator incident. One is to install a metal cover
plate less susceptible to damage by passengers. An interim
solution is to brief passengers on the location of the drain
actuator, and conduct careful preflight and post-flight
inspections of the drain actuator area.
Wisdom Consists of Being Wise in Time
Flamboyant attempts to impress passengers with piloting skills–
known as “showboating” and "grandstanding"–are rarely in the
best interests of safety, as discovered by a contrite reporter to
ASRS:
■ I invited some friends to go for airplane rides...a total of two
rides with five friends in the airplane on each ride. When they
arrived they asked to take some pictures of the airplane in flight. I
informed them that if they stood on the ramp I would fly over the
runway at a low altitude so they could get the pictures. I took off
[with passengers] into the wind on Runway 26, climbed to 500
feet AGL and turned the aircraft around and lined up on final for
Runway 08. I flew the length of the runway at a low altitude.
When I reached the end I made an abrupt pull-up and climbed
600 feet. We next did some sight-seeing and returned to the airport
and landed on Runway 26. Then I turned the airplane around
and lined up on final for Runway 08 for another low pass. On
this pass, when I was half way down the runway, a Cessna 172
announced that he would be departing Runway 26. I saw the
airplane and asked him to hold until I was clear of the runway.
The Cessna moved into position and held on Runway 26. I ascended
slightly to approximately 75 feet AGL and passed over
the stationary Cessna. After the pass we did some sightseeing
and returned for landing.
I believe what caused this problem was a pilot [me] giving
in to others’ requests to impress them with his flying ability
through show boating. This in actuality shows very poor
judgment. This event went without an accident...only due to
pure luck...I have learned a valuable lesson about
maturity...
What I will do to correct this situation in the future is to
say what my flight instructor would say when friends
requested him to showboat: “I don’t need to take that risk to
prove my flying abilities, I just need to show you the
certificates and ratings in my wallet.”
“Providence Is on the Side of Clear Heads”
An air carrier crew describes how the quick thinking of a ently the suitcase did not show visible signs of fire, but felt
cargo handler prevented an aircraft fire, and possibly even
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