Walks Into Turning Propeller

[murphey]

Back to the original topic….When we fly Young Eagles we have a hard & fast policies
Everyone is Always Escorted to and from the airplane.
No one is allowed near an airplane while starting up or shutting down

We have an entire crew of escorts, marshallers and 2 people on the ramp that are always watching.

Why? because we’re at one of the busiest GA airports in the country and don’t control the area directly in front of the classroom we use. That part of the ramp is the direct route to self-serve avgas.

Yes, we’re paranoid.

 

[sourdough44]

If one has a knowledgeable, briefed escort, I could see changing out passengers with the prop turning. In this scenario, the door isn’t opened until the escort is right there, same with walking towards the plane.

If solo, no escort, picking up or dropping off, different. The allowance would be if the passenger was a pilot themselves. Just saying, there is room for gray in the thought process.

 

[Pinecone]

And there are planes and there are planes.

Local skydive place hot loads their jump planes, but they use Caravans. So there is a LONG way from the prop to the door at the rear of the cabin. Plus they have escorts.

 

[John Spartan]

Girl has had a tough run.

Really looking forward to the story about her explosive hemorrhoids when this thread is resurrected in another 11 years.

 

[flyingron]

If one has a knowledgeable, briefed escort, I could see changing out passengers with the prop turning. In this scenario, the door isn’t opened until the escort is right there, same with walking towards the plane.

I can't. Even escorted, stuff happens. Even knowledgeable ground crew make mistakes. Early on in my flying career we had a mechanic walk into an MU-2 prop and just a couple of years ago a skydiving operations ground crew walked into a turning prop (both fatal). As Dr. B points out, if you can't shutdown and restart, you're plane isn't airworthy.
Even the big continentals that are prone to vapor locking won't have a problem in the minutes it takes to unload/reload. If a YE operation isn't stopping the props while loading I won't participate.

Even when I get out (like I forgot to pull a main gear chock), I shut down, even in the 172. It's illegal in the Navion to get out with the engine running (the normal boarding configuration is off the front of the wing).