How a water bottle could've killed me - near misses in aviation

[Pocket Sized]

I'm a student pilot in glider training. Recently I had an experience that only lasted a couple of seconds but left a lasting impression on me as a pilot.

 

I was going up for the second time that day, it was very hot so I'd brought a water bottle with me. While I was getting into the cockpit I placed the bottle in the leather boot that surrounds the base of the stick.

 

The process of strapping in and hooking up to the towplane went very smoothly. The takeoff roll started. The wing runner released the wing and the plane began falling to the left. Because we were so early in the takeoff roll (less than 30 kts) I applied full right aileron. I heard a crinkle and realized I'd left my water bottle in the boot, which was preventing me from moving the stick freely. I reached down to grab it with my left hand (while we were still on the ground!) but stopped. In my mind something said "Just fly the airplane". Of course, it was right. I continued the tow, prepared to release should my control be degraded any further. After the tow plane leveled out I had enough time to take a deep breath and put the bottle between my left side and the cockpit wall.

 

I don't know about you guys, but I can think of about a dozen ways the situation could have gotten very bad very quickly. Can't help but wonder if anyone here has had any similar experiences?

 

PS: Sorry about the clickbait

[Retu81]

Pretty much the textbook example why you should always check the controls before flight.

 

On a related note: I once took off and landed with the ground handling wheel still attached on the aft fuselage. :)

[Pocket Sized]

Pretty much the textbook example why you should always check the controls before flight.

 

On a related note: I once took off and landed with the ground handling wheel still attached on the aft fuselage. :)

 

Actually, thinking back on it I have absolutely no idea why I didn't notice it during the control check. We do one before every flight just prior to connecting the rope. I guess it was in a position where it didn't get in the way until after the control check or something.

 

Aw come on, a little aft CG never hurt anyone. That is, until they got into a stall :joystick:

[riproren]

About 15 years ago I took an offered ride in an old Piper Cub for a short business trip from Upstate NY to central Pa. About a 90 minute hop. My buddy the pilot had stopped at a roadside stand and picked up a small bag of apples before heading to the airport. After takeoff, he reached behind my seat and pulled out the apples and we proceeded to have a snack. He finished his first and chucked the core out the vent window and I did the same. We each ate 2 or 3 apples. Upon landing we taxied to the small terminal to park and take fuel before returning. The fueler asked "WTF happened here". The stabilizer, rudders and elevators looked like someone had beat them with a hammer. DOH! Turns out apple cores pack a little punch when chucked from an airplane.

[cichlidfan]

He finished his first and chucked the core out the vent window and I did the same.

 

Glad you don't fly where I live.

 

Someone please tell me that there is a regulation telling people not to throw objects from aircraft while in flight.

[riproren]

Glad you don't fly where I live.

 

Someone please tell me that there is a regulation telling people not to throw objects from aircraft while in flight.

 

LOL! Have you never heard of "blue ice"?

 

In my weak defense of stupidity, we flew entirely over heavily wooded areas on that trip.

 

I

[NoJoe]

Glad you don't fly where I live.

 

Someone please tell me that there is a regulation telling people not to throw objects from aircraft while in flight.

 

In the US, at least:

 

91.15 Dropping Objects:

 

"No pilot in command of a civil aircraft may allow any object to be dropped from that aircraft in flight that creates a hazard to persons or property. However, this section does not prohibit the dropping of any object if reasonable precautions are taken to avoid injury or damage to persons or property."

 

 

So, it's not entirely illegal... :D

[NRG-Vampire]

...same as putting bottle of water onto the floor in next to/front of your seat in a car.

at the first stronger braking the bottle maybe go under your pedals :doh:

[Reflected]

Yepp, pre flight checks are very important. I just recently completed my glider training, but I remember this one flight when I heard a strange noise upon opening and closing the air brake. I could even feel it on the handle.

 

I told it to my instructor, who opened the fuselage door only to notice that one of the airbrake rods were almost completely broken, held by a tiny piece only.

 

OK, not a life threatening failure, I could still have landed side-slipping, but still.

[Aginor]

This reminds me of the story of an A-10 pilot's accident told by William Smallwood in "Warthog":

 

During the night of a 14 hours transatlantic flight he had his lunch box in the plane, and during some turbulences it fell on the pitot heat switch, disabling the heating. The pilot didn't notice what had happened, and because he was tired he failed to cross-check his instruments.

So when his airspeed decreased he pushed the stick forward more and more, entering a dive without realizing it.

He was saved by his squadron mates who talked to him when he suddenly dove away.

[Pocket Sized]

This reminds me of the story of an A-10 pilot's accident told by William Smallwood in "Warthog":

 

During the night of a 14 hours transatlantic flight he had his lunch box in the plane, and during some turbulences it fell on the pitot heat switch, disabling the heating. The pilot didn't notice what had happened, and because he was tired he failed to cross-check his instruments.

So when his airspeed decreased he pushed the stick forward more and more, entering a dive without realizing it.

He was saved by his squadron mates who talked to him when he suddenly dove away.

 

I had a similar emperience in the Bf-109 in DCS when my pitot tube iced over. I was doing an altitude run and kept pulling the nose up thinking "how am I still accelerating?"

[Big Nuts]

I had this situation in an Aeronca Champ, scary situation to find you dont have stick movement(or just retarded movement). After that i made sure i did a controls check every time.

Cargo was impinging upon the stick 'hub' in the back seat. Just a thin aluminum cover. With tiny little screws.. Horrible feeling :|

[Bucic]

C152, bumpy takeoff run.

I accidentally closed the throttle by 20%. High poplar trees at the end of the runway, and the damned craft requires 95% of power to even lift off. The instructor noticed immediately. From then on I kept my thumb rested on the control panel on every takeoff to immediately give me feedback in case I pulled out the throttle control.

[Pocket Sized]

C152, bumpy takeoff run.

I accidentally closed the throttle by 20%. High poplar trees at the end of the runway, and the damned craft requires 95% of power to even lift off. The instructor noticed immediately. From then on I kept my thumb rested on the control panel on every takeoff to immediately give me feedback in case I pulled out the throttle control.

 

There's a very popular Youtube video in which somebody crashes on their first solo because the throttle crept backwards after takeoff without them noticing. (The guy was fine, not sure about the plane)

[Bucic]

There's a very popular Youtube video in which somebody crashes on their first solo because the throttle crept backwards after takeoff without them noticing. (The guy was fine, not sure about the plane)

I learned later that My colleague did the same error before me, on the same course with an even closer call. They almost did poplar tree dressing. Why the issue was not communicated to us is beyond me.

 

I bet there are lots close calls related to GA Joe training as safety approach is often lousy. I've heard of a routine where participants wouldn't close the main fuel shutoff valve because the aircrafts were being used often during a day and so the participants went ahead with the startup procedure past the shutoff valve check. Now imagine an outsider doing a shut down and then...

 

I live near a flying school airfield. During over 5 years I am yet to see a takeoff done with delayed climb to make use of the ground effect. Or a steep landing approach to limit reliance on the engine even though they do the approaches with a road, railway tracks, a shopping centre and a car park to top that off. They use a 2.5 km former air force base and take the liberty of what it seems landing anywhere on the runway sometimes. I did the opposite on my course and we were even pressed to land within a very limited distance past the threshold.

 

Odd...

 

BTW, poplar trees are high but such a crappy material you get the impression that a collision would only leave you dirty in the juices and smelly. Yeah, it also smells... And is shitty even as firewood :D

 

Edit: Thanks for the information on the yt video.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Bucic

[Cedaway]

I was student pilot in the Belgian Air Force back in time. I flew on Marchetti SF-260.

During my first take-off ever, I got a big fright:

Cleared for take-off, aligned with runway and gone full power.

Speed builds up, I rotate.... and a big gust of wind just at lift-off. My left wing going up, right wing approaching dangerously the ground (fuel tanks in the tip).

So, I applied left rudder to level the aircraft instead of using my stick.

(During the after report with my IP, he said me that using the rudder was the smart move because, as we were near stall speed, if I've had applied stick, I could have stalled my right wing and... boooom!)

I remember that after take off, I squeezed my stick so hard that if it was an olive, I could have made 1L of oil with it! My IP was super relaxed, his hands were still on his knees and he just said to me: 'Breath deeply, it's allright... OK, time to have fun, head to the training area...'

 

During the rest of the flight hour I calmed down, even less stressed than the previous flights and all gone fluidly and smoothly.

 

EDIT: Remember another story, funny this time:

It was also during the first hours of flight. We exercised stall recovery at altitude. Generally, a wing stall (nearly always) before the other (boundary layer stuff...).

So I reduced throttle, and waited for ages a wing drop. I was still nose up. And my IP just said: 'look your VVI just for once'. Oh crap, I was falling like a stone!

I relaxed the stick just a millimeter and then whoosh, the nose dropped directly towards the ground. Very sudden and rough drop! Speed builds up rapidly and I could level up and get back to SLF.

My IP said: 'Congrats, you experienced a deep stall in a Marchetti! Rough drop, uh?'. I smiled from ear to ear. That was a good day.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Cedaway

[Holbeach]

C152, bumpy takeoff run.

I accidentally closed the throttle by 20%. High poplar trees at the end of the runway, and the damned craft requires 95% of power to even lift off. The instructor noticed immediately. From then on I kept my thumb rested on the control panel on every takeoff to immediately give me feedback in case I pulled out the throttle control.

 

My instructor, Kenneth Alwyn, always insisted that my hand would be kept on the throttle at all times during the climb. That kind of thing sticks and I never take off without doing it.

 

..

[Holbeach]

I was on a flight from Shoreham to Sandown IOW in a 172 and a second pilot (Ex RAF) was going to fly the return journey.

 

Taxiing for runway 23 at Sandown, for the return flight, after a day out in the town, I noticed he was braking continuously and his legs were shaking. Just a few nerves I thought, as he hadn't flown solo since WW 2.

 

Sandown is bumpy grass with a hump in the middle and a slight left camber, so I wasn't too bothered when the speed remained at 40 on the T/O run, but it remained at 40 after we cleared the hump and by then we had passed the half way mark.

Then I felt it actually slow down and speed up again.

I looked over and saw his feet bouncing on the brakes.

"Take your feet off the brakes" I screamed, but he removed his feet completely from the pedals and we started to snake, with the left camber taking us off the runway and towards the terminal buildings.

The pilot yanked back the yoke and we leaped into the air, but without flying speed we rolled to the right and came down on the right wheel and then bounced back into the air again. :helpsmilie:

An ear splitting scream came from his wife sitting in the back seat and I thought, this is it, we're dead, as we came back down onto the left wheel and bounced again.

To be continued.

 

..

Edited August 26, 2016 by Holbeach

[Big Nuts]

:) Always good to look back on rather than....on lol.

 

 

One sunny afternoon myself and a fellow pilot were operating our cessna on floats. We had friends out on the lake and we wanted to buzz em.

Well i was in the right seat and basically an observer, which can be a little disconcerting if your used to the left seat alone.

 

So anyways off we go, and as we approach our friends, the pilot in command starts banking and turning like a demon.... The ball will spend precious few moments even remotely center from here on in...

 

He brings it hard to the left, throwing it around like a kite, we pass are pals on the boat. Ok he decides to land..... So down we come. He wants to get it on the water, but we have too much airspeed. But down he goes! Sht, we have atleast 60knots and he bounces it, so up we come but this is apparently unacceptable to the pic, so he shoves the nose forward...

 

So we hit left float first at speed slightly nose low. The plane lurches hard to the left, i just remember being in the presence of a serious situation, my mind was luckily calm and composed.."Ok check seat belt, ok, lock open door, ok ready for impact" The right wing came within inches of the water, close to catwheeling. Fk me, i got out on the float and had a ciggarette.

 

They had a journalist on the boat with our friends, and were video'ing our flight. As we hit the water the cameraman screamed and dropped the camera! I hate the right seat.

Edited September 19, 2016 by Big Nuts