Complacency

eman1200 said:
mmmmm, only thing I can think of is to remove the cowl plugs.
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Well, yeah, but what would have prompted a check for them. I don't do a full preflight when I taxi to the mx hangar since preflight by the very definition of the word happens before a flight.
 
C-1 PILOT said:
STOP! take a breath, do a final walk around before climbing in the cockpit.

Be thankful it wasn’t the Tow Bar!
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It happens. I did a couple of foolish things similar this before I convinced myself to slow the heck down.

Last week, as I was taxiing by the refueling area, two men were about to start a PA28 (maybe a 140). I was trying my best to give them "STOP", "DON'T", "GET OUT" signals, before they started with the towbar in place.

They mistakenly thought I was trying to wave them ahead of me.

I guess my hand-signaling got about as ambitious as swatting murder hornets, and they got the hint.

When the flight instructor (?) got out he was pretty visibly rattled with the situation and relieved. Let's hope that counts for their personal checkboxes.
 
Rgbeard said:
Last week, as I was taxiing by the refueling area, two men were about to start a PA28 (maybe a 140). I was trying my best to give them "STOP", "DON'T", "GET OUT" signals, before they started with the towbar in place.
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One thing I always do before I turn the key is visually see where the tow bar is. If I can’t see, I don’t start. I either put it in the hangar or in the aft baggage compartment.

Towbar - I see it - check
...continue start checklist.
 
Not even sure if I want to share one of my more embarrassing moments, but I will.

I decided I wanted to go up one afternoon after a long day at work. I went down, made sure to do a thorough preflight because I knew I was fatigued from the long day. Everything looked good, so I hopped in, strapped down and was ready to fire up when I realized I missed something big on the preflight. Damn plane was still in the hangar. :mad2: Got out, closed hangar door and went home. Just wasn't the day to go flying.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Not even sure if I want to share one of my more embarrassing moments, but I will.

I decided I wanted to go up one afternoon after a long day at work. I went down, made sure to do a thorough preflight because I knew I was fatigued from the long day. Everything looked good, so I hopped in, strapped down and was ready to fire up when I realized I missed something big on the preflight. Damn plane was still in the hangar. :mad2: Got out, closed hangar door and went home. Just wasn't the day to go flying.
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Pulled nose first into fuel pumps once and did that when getting ready to depart. (some places cheap out and only get a 40' hose, which won't reach the tip tank on the far side of the plane)
 
Ive found that pilots on all skill levels need a "common sense check" walk yourself to the front of the plane about 10 feet in front. Then, make sure you have 2 wings, 3 wheels similarly inflated, a clean windscreen, no red flags.

I've found this to be a catch-all. From a pilot that has left one side tied down, left chalks on it, left the baggage door open, and left a fuel cap loose
 
I’ve been trying to tell myself to slow down while preflighting. Especially for xc’s. Plodding and methodical, not hurried and cursory.
 
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After 10 years of flying and vigilant preflights I bought my own... I noticed a lot of my buddies didn’t preflight like I did and figured it was because they know the plane- previous renter wasn’t an issue, so I slacked a bit.. hit the big ones like tank sumping but the rest I did cursory at best for a week...

Went to take a friend for a fun flight, landed at his airport uneventfully and went to turn off... right wing dropped a bit and the left turn changed to a right turn... I had blown a tire! Not good in a TW... Luckly between a decent headwind and an instructor that taught me to get on the brakes as soon as planted to get to taxi speed ASAP I didn't ground loop...
I did shut down a controlled runway for an hour n a half as they didn't have a unit to tow a TW... some embarrassment and $600 later all was good...

That sheared valve stem is on my dresser to this day, I see it everyday I grab my wallet and keys and my preflight checklist now begins with: “preflight like someone loves you”

I don’t recall seeing the tire soft that day, but then again I just cursory glanced at that stuff... never again...
 
Huckster79 said:
After 10 years of flying and vigilant preflights I bought my own... I noticed a lot of my buddies didn’t preflight like I did and figured it was because they know the plane- previous renter wasn’t an issue, so I slacked a bit.. hit the big ones like tank sumping but the rest I did cursory at best for a week...

Went to take a friend for a fun flight, landed at his airport uneventfully and went to turn off... right wing dropped a bit and the left turn changed to a right turn... I had blown a tire! Not good in a TW... Luckly between a decent headwind and an instructor that taught me to get on the brakes as soon as planted to get to taxi speed ASAP I didn't ground loop...
I did shut down a controlled runway for an hour n a half as they didn't have a unit to tow a TW... some embarrassment and $600 later all was good...

That sheared valve stem is on my dresser to this day, I see it everyday I grab my wallet and keys and my preflight checklist now begins with: “preflight like someone loves you”

I don’t recall seeing the tire soft that day, but then again I just cursory glanced at that stuff... never again...
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Try not landing at 120kts with the brakes locked up. :D
(yes, I know which plane you fly)
 
Do your plugs have the little flags that stick up so you can see them in the cockpit?
 
Oren Mason said:
Ive found that pilots on all skill levels need a "common sense check" walk yourself to the front of the plane about 10 feet in front. Then, make sure you have 2 wings, 3 wheels similarly inflated, a clean windscreen, no red flags.

I've found this to be a catch-all. From a pilot that has left one side tied down, left chalks on it, left the baggage door open, and left a fuel cap loose
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The way I describe this to students is: Up until now we have been looking at the airplane with blinders on... We have been looking at it real close and in detail. Now we need to step back and take a "30,000' View".

Step to the side on which you completed the exterior inspection by about one wingspan away from the airplane and look at its symmetry. Is it sitting level? Does the wing angle look right? Is the prop sitting at the correct angle to the front of the cowling? Chocks? Tiedown? Move around to the front... Is it sitting level? Are the wheel struts symmetrical? Is the nose strut straight vertical? Chocks? Move to the other side (repeat the first side). Move to the rear... Are the stabs at 90°? Is the tail untied? Do you actually have a clear path to taxi or does it require a push before you are clear...

That 60-90 seconds of walking around asking these questions can save a lot of embarassment, or worse.
 
A friend at work wanted to take an airplane ride in a small plane so we went for a ride around the countryside on a cool spring afternoon. He seemed to greatly enjoy it. I asked after the flight what was the scariest part of the flight. He said when I was doing the preflight. I asked why. He said "because you were looking at it like you were expecting to find something wrong." I told him that is exactly what I was doing and because I could not find a reason why we should not go flying ... we did!
 
A coworker of mine lost her life in a plane crash because the cowl plugs were forgotten. The engine died shortly after takeoff and crashed trying to return to the airport. Four lives were lost for such a simple oversight.
 
EdFred said:
Try not landing at 120kts with the brakes locked up. :D
(yes, I know which plane you fly)
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LOL, Yea knowing that you know I'd need to start a dive from about 10,500 to hit 120kt! LOL :)
 
painless said:
I’ve been trying to tell myself to slow down while preflighting. Especially for xc’s. Plodding and methodical, not hurried and cursory.
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Amen brother. Just this weekend, leaving to go home. Forgot the nose chocks. In too much hurry to get on my way home. I was that guy this weekend. I took an Intersection takeoff because of arriving traffic. I never do that normally. Again in a hurry to get home.
 
Stingray Don said:
A coworker of mine lost her life in a plane crash because the cowl plugs were forgotten. The engine died shortly after takeoff and crashed trying to return to the airport. Four lives were lost for such a simple oversight.
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Sad story. Do you have the NTSB ID code for that one, I’d be interested in reading it -thanks.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
Sad story. Do you have the NTSB ID code for that one, I’d be interested in reading it -thanks.
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Here is the link to the NTSB report. Looks like the full report is no longer available. Basically, the cowl plugs were found at the crash site and the NTSB concluded that they had not been removed during preflight. The engine died shortly after takeoff. Pilot attempted the impossible turn and almost made it. There is a junkyard next to the runway (grass strip) and the plane crashed into a junked car. Three people died instantly and one survived but died days later from severe burns. Obviously a proper preflight inspection would have prevented the accident. Regardless, had there been a connecting rope strung over the prop, the cowl plugs would have been flung off at start up. Such a simple thing can cause a tragedy.

https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001213X26489

https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38134751/obituary-for-robert-a-ocallaghan/

I went to high school with Tammy, but we were not in the same graduating class. Later, we both worked at the same small company. Her parents and her fiancé were in the plane. Her father was the pilot. Her fiancé survived the crash but died days later.
 
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Posted in the "oops moment" thread. I got complacent with weather - never had a low ceiling before at my training area up until my third solo. Clouds were BKN 1300 and I went VFR into IMC due to multiple levels of complacency - not looking up before flying, not "listening" to Atis, and not changing my flight path as I got closer to the clouds.
 
I always learn a lot on POA.

drummer4468 said:
You always drape the cowl plug lanyard over the up-moving blade and under the down-moving blade, for this reason. Once you crank the starter, it'll just yank em out in the first revolution and chuck em away before the engine ever fires over.
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This is a great suggestion and the first time I've heard it. I'll have to ask the chief pilot why we don't do this with our plugs.

smv said:
Move around to the front... Is it sitting level? Are the wheel struts symmetrical? Move to the rear... Are the stabs at 90°?
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This is another great suggestion, especially about looking at the Stabs to see if they are 90 degrees.

smv said:
Do you actually have a clear path to taxi or does it require a push before you are clear...
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This is another great suggestion, but we always tow out from the tiedown into the lane before starting. It's my last check of the wheels while they are rolling to look for scuffs, flat spots, punctures or other issues with the tires that might be hidden by wheel pants. Plus we know that we're not blowing around anyone else's gear, equipment or aircraft during the startup.
 
Reminder......when taking off and you do not see an increase in your air speed, abort take off.
Taxi to FBO area and remove pitot cover.:(
 
PiperW said:
Reminder......when taking off and you do not see an increase in your air speed, abort take off.
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Some years ago we had an incident at our local airport where a pilot forgot to remove his pitot tube cover. On his takeoff roll he was so mesmerized by the airspeed indicator that was not doing anything that he ran off the end of the runway. Fortunately no one was hurt.

Tim
 
EdFred said:
Well, yeah, but what would have prompted a check for them. I don't do a full preflight when I taxi to the mx hangar since preflight by the very definition of the word happens before a flight.
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Multiple checklists... Pre-flight, Post-flight, Pre-Ops, Post-Ops, Through-flight (stopping for gas); make your own for each situation.


After reading this thread I think we have a new competition game to play... Cowl Plug Chucking!
 
Complacency can get expensive and dangerous, like to constantly remind myself to pay attention to all fazes of flight.
 
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