Guy gets locked in his own airplane.....

Haha.

I knew it was a Grumman even before opening this thread.

In a Grumman, it's possible for the locking plate to get temporarily stuck in an unlocked position so that the key doesn't do anything. Later on if somebody leaves the previously inert key cylinder in the locked position and the locking plate frees itself, someone could get trapped. The locking plate has an emergency tab protruding into the cabin in case that happens, but in earlier models it isn't clearly placarded and in some planes the sticker loses its stickiness over time and the owner is too lazy to replace it.

And if the emergency unlock tab somehow fails, the baggage door also has an internal emergency release as well. One can crawl out that way (if you aren't too fat to fit through).
 
I've managed to do that in the Comanche. When I unlocked the door, I must not have turned the lock cylinder completely before removing the key. After getting in and latching the door the lock engaged somehow. I was just taking family members for rides that day, and when we got back couldn't open the door. Fortunately we could hand the keys out the vent window to my other family members and get them to unlock the door.
 
I have been locked out a few times, but never locked in. Good thing the plane wasn't on fire....
 
I've never been locked in but I was nearly trapped inside the tail cone as I went in to install the ADSB antenna:

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Have heard of this several times. Especially for canopy-style cockpits, this can be a life-threatening situation if it happens on the ramp in the summer.
Need to pull the airplane into some shade, even a hangar - as cabin temps can soar.
I carry a mallet.
 
I had a Grumman and the POH had explained how to release the canopy lock from inside or use the baggage door to escape as previously described
 
Ironically, I am reading a book written by one of the F-117 pilots in the Kosovo campaign. Just today I got to the part where he flies his first combat mission, lands, and the canopy is jammed. He points out that, therefore, unknowingly, his first combat mission ever did not have an ejection seat (since it won't fire if the canopy is closed).
 
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I got stuck in a Mooney 231 once. Boarded the plane with a student and ended up aborting the flight because of weather.
Door wouldn't open. No sweat, we can get out the baggage door. Buggered handle.
Called dispatch to send someone over.
 
aftCG said:
I got stuck in a Mooney 231 once. Boarded the plane with a student and ended up aborting the flight because of weather.
Door wouldn't open. No sweat, we can get out the baggage door. Buggered handle.
Called dispatch to send someone over.
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I have heard that can happen on the Mooney, i think the roll pin on the door handle can shear off. I don't recall the C model I have been flying having am inside handle on the baggage door. Have been advised keeping a pair of vise grips in the cockpit to actuate the door handle if necessary is a good idea.

Brian
 
RussR said:
Ironically, I am reading a book written by one of the F-117 pilots in the Bosnia campaign. Just today I got to the part where he flies his first combat mission, lands, and the canopy is jammed. He points out that, therefore, unknowingly, his first combat mission ever did not have an ejection seat (since it won't fire if the canopy is closed).
Click to expand...

Have heard the story of a backseater, from a the RF-4 unit that used to be based here at Boise, he pulled the ejection handle due to an engine fire. Says he watched the front canopy jettison and then the pilot eject from the plane. Meanwhile he is in the back seat thinking, "I was supposed to go first", as that is how the ejection sequence is supposed to work. Now he is in a Pilotless RF-4 that is on fire. There is a procedure for this event which calls for pushing up on the canopy which apparently triggered the switch that was preventing the back seat ejection sequence. He obviously ejected ok.

Brian
 
Somewhere I have saved a PowerPoint presentation of an F-22 Jock who got locked in his plane. After every reasonable attempt.... they broke out the chainsaw! Man you should have seen how bad they FODded the cockpit with shavings from cutting through that thick transparency on the canopy. There was chips and chain oil everywhere inside. There's about 20 pictures of the process and the disgusted look on the pilots face is priceless.
 
I had the handle break when closing the door on a King Air once...fortunately there was someone nearby, so I didn’t have to use the emergency exit.
 
The Navion canopy release can snap the cable making it impossible to open further than the flight stop (about 10 inches). Many people have modded the latch to allow alternate releases. Mine is just that someone wallowed out the pin hole so I can shove something (a key works well) in there and raise the pin. I've seen others with fancier designs where they've ground a slot in the canopy itself and fitted it with a little knob to raise the pin.
 
This happened to me last year in my Grumman Tiger. Didn't realize how hard it is to crawl over the back seats to get to the baggage compartment to get out. The most embarrassing part - I could have unlatched the canopy from inside. Just forgot. Doh!
 
After many years of not flying much, brother purchased a Piper Arrow and I flew with him while he got comfortable with it. He was really bad at landings; they were more like arrivals. He wasn't getting any better with my help so I hooked him up with an experienced CFI. On the Saturday of his first lesson, I got a call from him asking me to come to the airport to let them out of the plane.

His landings were bad, but I didn’t thing they were bad enough to twist the airframe so much that he couldn’t get out.

The good news is that, like most of the rest of the plastic in the airplane, the plastic gear in the door lock decided that working for 43 years was long enough and it shattered.
 
Best reason for carrying a credit card and your POH where you can reach it. In my Tiger, the canopy sometimes sticks to the forward seal. Next time, put a little baby powder on it and it won’t stick. Use the credit card to slide in between the seals and you can usually get it open. If it’s a latch problem, POH will tell you how to use the red handle. No way am I going over the back seat and out the baggage door.
 
asicer said:
In a Grumman, it's possible for the locking plate to get temporarily stuck in an unlocked position so that the key doesn't do anything. Later on if somebody leaves the previously inert key cylinder in the locked position and the locking plate frees itself, someone could get trapped. The locking plate has an emergency tab protruding into the cabin in case that happens, but in earlier models it isn't clearly placarded and in some planes the sticker loses its stickiness over time and the owner is too lazy to replace it.
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Placards are governed by TCDS, or by reference by the TCDS to the AFM. Missing required placards are a violation of FAR 23.2610. We see why sometimes, like in this case.

The mechanic is lazy in such cases. Annual inspections should include a general check for missing placards.
 
I am currently locked inside my truck and can't open the door. The keys are laying on the ground right outside the driver side door. Can someone come let me out.?? I am at Taco Bell.

Please hurry, it is starting to snow and the window is rolled down....
 
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Disclaimer:language, NSFW and all that...

 
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