Aircraft Incidents Accidents & Mishaps Learning from the Past

 Early Aviation. On December 17, 1903, Orville Wright piloted the first powered airplane 20 feet above a wind- swept beach in North Carolina. The flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Three more flights were made that day with Orville's brother Wilbur piloting the record flight lasting 59 seconds over a distance of 852 feet.  The difference, they were beginning to learn from their experience.

Another early aviator crashed landed after a 45 minute flight. When asked if he ran out of fuel he replied, “no, I ran out of knowledge”. In the beginning aviation was not particularly safe. There were more crashes than good landings. Mechanical as well as human failures lead to the death of many of our earliest pioneers, but we were beginning to learn from their mistakes.

With each newly designed aircraft, engine, tire and every new pilot, reliability began to increase. We were learning from our past mistakes. Today the statistics are definitely in our favor. Aircraft and power plant reliability along with better trained pilots are at all time highs. AOPA figures show in 1938 there were 1,861 accidents for 1,478,000 hours flown or per 100,000 hours flown. In 2005, there were 1,764 accidents for 24,401,000 hours flown or 7.23 per 100,000 hours flown.

Unfortunately here in the CAP, we are repeating many of the same old mistakes. In a period from 1 June 07 until 1 June 09, nearly 85 CAP aircraft were damaged due to pilot error. Check pilots, instructor pilots or mission check pilots were crewmembers on 50% of these aircraft at the time they were damaged. Hangar related incidents lead to the creation of a new requirement, the “Ground Handling Video”. We had enough damage during this time period to pay for a “Brand New” Cessna 182T G-1000 aircraft.

Here at the National Check Pilot Standardization Course (NCPSC) we want you to take away more than you came with. Let’s discuss several of the incidents and mishaps we have had in the FLWG just this year.

This incident occurred at night after landing and while on taxiway. The landing seemed normal and no braking was required. The tire just failed while taxing in. The investigation determined that the aircraft brake system was at fault. The left main wheel was locked at touch down. The rotors were pitted, rusted and warped. Brake pads were down to minimums. The brake assembly was bent and misaligned.

Every pilot in command performs his or her own “Pre-Flight Inspection”. It is imperative that when tires or aircraft brakes do not look airworthy, an aircraft logbook entry should be made and the aircraft not flown until the AMO verifies airworthiness.

It was also noted by the pilot “The Airspeed Indicator was Slow”. A pitot system test showed the airspeed to be slow by more than10 kts. This added additional airspeed to the landing touch down speed.

On a training flight and after several touch & go’s the left main tire failed on touchdown. Aircraft brakes were not applied, the aircraft left the center line and came to rest near runway edge lights.

Most C-182T Aircraft have hubcaps. In order for the inner tube valve stem to reach through the hubcap, a valve stem extender is installed. This extender had become loose and allowed the tire to deflate inflight. Tire pressure holds the tire on the rim. On touchdown the tire spun up ahead of the wheel, breaking off the valve stem.

The aircraft was a C-172. The runway was 8,500 X 150 and grooved. The PIC was attempting to make the turn off near the 3,000 ft. point. Aircraft braking was applied and the aircraft began a 200 foot skid from the runway center line to the taxiway turn off. The left main tire failed and the right main tire was heavily flat spotted. The maintenance inspection indicated the brake system was functioning normally.

 Consider the current runway conditions. Wet, Dry, Long, Short. Headwind, Crosswind, Tailwind.  Consider the aircraft condition. Brakes and Tires, Flaps Inoperative. Light or heavy landing weights.

 Foot Position on touch down.  Crosswind landing method.  Aerodynamic Braking.  Be conservative with aircraft. !!! Little next to no braking required.

The perception of environmental elements within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future.

In April of 2009, (SEW) a crew of three were operating a CAP aircraft West of the Fort Myers area on a discrete squawk code but not in communication with Fort Myers APCH. While investigating a Target of Interest (TOI) the crew penetrated the Naples Class D airspace without contacting the tower. While already approximately 0.5 miles inside the airspace the crew finally contacted the tower. Naples tower immediately informed the crew that they had violated the airspace. After being informed of the violation the crew remained in communication with the tower and continued to operate inside the Class D airspace with tower approval.

The PIC lost situational awareness (SA) to his proximity of the Class D airspace. He failed to navigate his aircraft clear of the class D airspace until he could establish communication with Naples tower. The PIC also failed to have readily available ATC frequencies for his area of operation.

 Lack of systems knowledge.  Pre-flight planning.  Diverted attention.  Crew Resource Management (CRM)

After engine start, the PIC taxied from his parking space and hit an orange cone located in front of aircraft. Prop Strike. The engine had to be removed and torn down. $$$$.

While placing aircraft back in hangar, contact was make on wingtip – rudder – elevator etc. The aircraft was removed from service for repairs. $$$$ The repeated result of this loss of SA resulted in the requirement to view the “Ground Handling Video”.

 The importance of a good preflight inspection.  The importance of proper planning.  The importance of proper technique.  The importance of being conservative with equipment.  The importance of Situational Awareness.