Flight cut short after it took off with concrete tie down attached

I'm curious how a block trailing behind the plane affects CG.
 
not the first time.
 
Good thing he didn't forget to lower the landing gear. I could see something like that happening in this situation.
 
The Canadians seem to be having a rough time of it lately. Maybe all the lockdown trauma?

Could be the pilot was on PoA and thought trailing a concrete block would create enough drag to avoid high speed driving on the grass and running into a hangar after landing?
 
At least the Canadian news got the aircraft right - if this was a US news story it would have said, “A Cessna Piper A737 Max Neo took off today and almost crashed landed possibly with 1000 kilos of drugs aboard. This is because light prop-jet turbos are not subject to the same regulations as jumbos.”
 
Someone did that in the 70s in Park Rapids, MN. In the old brief style of NTSB reports it just said something like: 'Acft attempted with 250lb conc tiedown attachd. Acft crashed'.
 
Deelee said:
At least the Canadian news got the aircraft right - if this was a US news story it would have said, “A Cessna Piper A737 Max Neo took off today and almost crashed landed possibly with 1000 kilos of drugs aboard. This is because light prop-jet turbos are not subject to the same regulations as jumbos.”
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It would be very important to check if they filed a flight plan.
 
Oopsie doodles...

I have forgotten to untie a few times, but I never took off trailing tiedowns...
 
Deelee said:
At least the Canadian news got the aircraft right - if this was a US news story it would have said, “A Cessna Piper A737 Max Neo took off today and almost crashed landed possibly with 1000 kilos of drugs aboard. This is because light prop-jet turbos are not subject to the same regulations as jumbos.”...
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...and it departed from one of 2500 airports without a TSA checkpoint.
 
Volzalum said:
It did make it far enough to land on same runway as it took off from.
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Sure hope he didn't declare clear of the runway until after he actually crossed the line...
 
Once watched a Beechjet drag a ground power cart all the way out to the runway at SLC. Don’t think it tried to take off, though!
 
I'm surprised a whole cinder block (40 lbs if memory serves) tied to the tail didn't move the CG so far aft that it was unstable. Remember the old saw "A plane with the CG too far forward flies poorly. A plane with the CG too far aft flies once."
 
GRG55 said:
Sure hope he didn't declare clear of the runway until after he and the concrete block actually crossed the line...
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FTFY.
 
jsstevens said:
I'm surprised a whole cinder block (40 lbs if memory serves) tied to the tail didn't move the CG so far aft that it was unstable. Remember the old saw "A plane with the CG too far forward flies poorly. A plane with the CG too far aft flies once."
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I don't know the CG on a Duchess, but I have been flying a Seminole a lot lately, and that thing's CG is so far forward we have 88 pounds of water in the baggage compartment to keep it in CG. A 40-pound concrete block on the tail might just help!
 
Depends on the plane. I've got a 12lb weight in the tail of the Navion and the CG still tends toward the forward limit.
 
asicer said:
I'm curious if it shortened the landing rollout.
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Article says it smashed and disintegrate during touchdown closing the runway for FOD.

jsstevens said:
I'm surprised a whole cinder block (40 lbs if memory serves) tied to the tail didn't move the CG so far aft that it was unstable. Remember the old saw "A plane with the CG too far forward flies poorly. A plane with the CG too far aft flies once."
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Not this one ... it's the NEW tow plane simulator! After you can take off and land "with the block" you get a special certificate for glider towing operations;)
 
kayoh190 said:
Once watched a Beechjet drag a ground power cart all the way out to the runway at SLC. Don’t think it tried to take off, though!
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As a GA pilot out of SLC I’m getting a kick out of visualizing this. Wasn’t recent was it? My daughter works at TacAir (behind the desk).
 
kayoh190 said:
Once watched a Beechjet drag a ground power cart all the way out to the runway at SLC. Don’t think it tried to take off, though!
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One of the clever things the Swiss did on the PC-12 is put the GPU receptacle at a 45 degree angle so it will pull out as you taxi away.
 
jsstevens said:
I'm surprised a whole cinder block (40 lbs if memory serves) tied to the tail didn't move the CG so far aft that it was unstable. Remember the old saw "A plane with the CG too far forward flies poorly. A plane with the CG too far aft flies once."
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I've towed banners that were at least that heavy with no issue.
 
woodchucker said:
As a GA pilot out of SLC I’m getting a kick out of visualizing this. Wasn’t recent was it? My daughter works at TacAir (behind the desk).
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Wasn't too recent - maybe 11-12 years? It was back in my Citation days. But it was at TacAir! You know that nice pilot's lounge area on the 2nd floor that has a great view of the ramp? A couple of us were up there when one guy noticed the Beechjet pulling out with the GPU attached: "Hey, check this s*** out!" :p

Apparently the pilots didn't wait around for a marshaller before firing up and leaving. Someone at the front desk was able to give the Tower a call to let the pilots know. I never got a chance to look at it close up, but I think dragging the GPU around damaged some of the skin around the power receptacle.
 
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