A safety thought

RotaryWingBob

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iHover
Our practice has been to leave a handwritten sign on the panel whenever one of the helicopters is not airworthy.

The other day I read about a fatal accident involving a 206 up in Canada. The mast nut had been removed to be stripped and refinished. The accident pilot failed to preflight the rotorhead, and three different maintenance people failed to remember to tell him that the ship was not airworthy. After a couple of minutes of flight, the main rotor separated from the mast, and everyone on board was killed.

I am (I'm not sure why I was chosen!) Safety Officer for both of our ships. As a result of reading about the above accident, I decided we ought to get more formal about grounding the ships when they're not airworthy. My solution involved a couple of things.

First, I made up large red placards saying "GROUNDED" which are to be attached to the pilot's cyclic stick whenever the ship is not airworthy, and made it mandatory that the placard be used.

Second, when not needed, the placards are to be stowed in the baggage compartment underneath the pilot's seat (right seat), so everybody knows where to find them if needed.

Last, I asked that every pilot, if they encounter something they don't like in preflight, or if something happens inflight that makes them unsure that the ship is airworthy, to placard it as well (thus any pilot can ground the ship). The placard cannot be removed until theaircraft is deemed to be airworthy.

I'm sharing this because it might have application to other aircraft which are piloted by more than one pilot.

Just a thought from a big chicken :yes:
 
The old RED TAG. Very good idea for any vehicle or machinery.
 
Yeah, I always leave a hand printed 8X10 note punched through a post light on the panel, squawk it in writing and verbally to the Cheif Pilot/club Pres., and yank the keys from the flightline if it's not airworthy.

If somebody manages to get airborne through all that, then their number was definately "up".
 
A placard is always a good idea. Of course you could always put an item in the log, I know, not generally done in GA but it is another way of hopefully getting someones attention. I used to do that when I rented, of course in those days they actually had the log books on board. For something like the mast nut they should have disconnected the battery. Now there's an idea. Glad I own.
Ron
 
A placard is always a good idea. Of course you could always put an item in the log, I know, not generally done in GA but it is another way of hopefully getting someones attention. I used to do that when I rented, of course in those days they actually had the log books on board. For something like the mast nut they should have disconnected the battery. Now there's an idea. Glad I own.
Ron

I think it is supposed to be logged... but, what pilots even have access to the logbooks, much less read them?

I wish I owned, but I'm not sure my wife would be real happy with sole ownership of a 1/2 million buck helicopeter :dunno:
 
Communication x 3 .... and then talk a lot!
Last flight there was an inop prop heat and a stall horn that suddenly started and would not shut up, so I pulled the breaker. When I landed I put post it notes on the throttle quadrant, and then as I was leaving I phoned all the other pilots and then mx. Followed by emails. Still not sure thats enough!
Good ideas Bob.
 
Our club does it with a squawk book above the locked overhead container (think cubicle furniture) that has the keys in it. Every pilot is supposed to look in the book before taking the plane.

This works for us because some problems make the plane VFR-only but not necessarily grounded. And of course, some squawks are more important than others.

When the mechanics take the plane off the line, they take the keys out of the overhead and nobody's going anywhere in it.
 
A placard is always a good idea. Of course you could always put an item in the log, I know, not generally done in GA but it is another way of hopefully getting someones attention. I used to do that when I rented, of course in those days they actually had the log books on board. For something like the mast nut they should have disconnected the battery. Now there's an idea. Glad I own.
Ron

That was the first thought that I had. Simply make sure it can't fly if it isn't airworthy. Disconnecting the battery would be a simple way to do that.
 
You could always pull a Daley and gouge an X in the windscreen....

Or use some tape. Should get someone's attention when they get in and look out.
 
I imagine a large red tag clipped to the keychain would also be a good indicator. That way the key is available for use, if necessary, but nobody is going to NOT notice. Maybe also use a dry-erase marker to note any pertinent info on the tag?
 
The shop I use has big red placards printed up that they place on the instrument panel of all aircraft that are grounded. Anyone can "red tag" an airplane, but only the IA can remove them. It's a good, simple system, especially on airplanes that don't have keys.

Jay
 
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