Bonanza landing gear problems at KADS today

AggieMike88

AggieMike88

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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
At about 12:00 today, while returning from my Tulsa PnP Mission (http://www.pilotsofamerica.com/forum/showthread.php?t=67724), I heard Center and Approach telling a few pilots that KADS (Addison, TX) was closed. When I got home, I found out why.

A Bonanza decided to bring his tow bar with him from the Texas panhandle.... still attached to the nose gear.

Here is the audio where the pilot discovers he's got a problem. Below is the transmission between the pilot and Addison Tower. She breaks the bad news that he has a tow bar attached to the nose gear.

Kudos to the controller for her professionalism...and you can hear the "oh man, I messed up..." in the pilots voice.

http://archive-server.liveatc.net/kads/KADS1-Twr-Jan-19-2014-1700Z.mp3

EDITED: Fixed the link to the audio file.
 
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LiveATC must not like direct links. They've locked this one out for "network abuse".
 
Hmmm... likely because it's getting a lot of play right now.... You might try copy/paste on the browser. Or start at their home page and dig until you find the same file.
 
Must have been a bad karma weekend for Bonanzas. There was a gear up at KMQS on Friday afternoon as well.

I wonder what the controller meant by "that was the amazing thing" she ever saw. Did he land with the gear partially down?
 
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:hairraise: 2:15 mark on the recording.

I'll bet he cringed even more every time she said the whole airport was his and them asked how many people are on board. And of course I must mention that this would never happen to me. :D
 
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Doh! I'm surprised he didn't hit it with the prop when he started up, or felt it when it hit a seam on the taxiway or runway.
 
nddons said:
Doh! I'm surprised he didn't hit it with the prop when he started up, or felt it when it hit a seam on the taxiway or runway.
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You know, I get the whole "don't say it could never happen thing," but I still don't understand how this happens. Why would you ever pull the plane out and not immediately disconnect the tow bar? Then I guess you're in such a hurry that you never do a walk-around on the plane?

I couldn't get the audio to work -- did the pilot have trouble retracting the gear which is what let him know he had an issue?
 
Yeah, we'd get our medicine at startup in the 182. Almost did it 1 month into plane ownership. Master on, hand on the key, then rememebered
 
That controller sounds like she loves her job. I wonder what she looks like?
 
My response to the tower would have been:

"A towbar?!?! I stowed mine. We must have picked that up along the way.
I thought I felt a thunk about 20 min ago. I bet some moron took off with his towbar attached and it fell off his plane and we hit it. Some people"
 
AggieMike88 said:
Bonanza landing gear problems at KADS today
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Actually, Mike, it wasn't a landing gear problem but rather a cranial rectitus problem, wasn't it? :rolleyes: :yesnod:

I'm sure I've relayed this "trick" here before but it may be worth mentioning again (if not, feel free to verbally slap me around).

For you that have a retractable towbar with a pin that holds it in the extended position like this one (or similar):

14084.jpg


Attach the pin to your plane's key chain. That way, when the key is "in the ignition," you know the towbar is not on the nose since the pin is right there in front of you. And, when you're tugging your plane around with the towbar, your keys are attached to it so you know you didn't leave the mags on.

I picked this tip up numerous years ago on one of the boards and liked the idea so much that I bought a collapsible towbar just so I would be able to use the system. Simple and effective...a good combination.
 
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SixPapaCharlie said:
My response to the tower would have been:

"A towbar?!?! I stowed mine. We must have picked that up along the way.
I thought I felt a thunk about 20 min ago. I bet some moron took off with his towbar attached and it fell off his plane and we hit it. Some people"
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lol
funkster9 said:
Sounds like the receptionist in Office Space
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That's exactly what I was thinking.

"Thank you for calling __, JUST a moMent!"
Funkeruski said:
the

I found the way she talks a little annoying myself.
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Only a little?

She did just fine nonetheless.
 
Cpt_Kirk said:
lol

That's exactly what I was thinking.

"Thank you for calling __, JUST a moMent!"

Only a little?

She did just fine nonetheless.
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She sounds like the "Flo" of the control cab.
 
JLowe said:
She's very friendly and helpful in my experience. I need to schedule a visit to the tower!
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She sounds nice. I use my "radio voice" when I talk on the radio, too.
 
It's a sing song voice. Great for awhile but tends to wear on you. YMMV
 
Marauder said:
Must have been a bad karma weekend for Bonanzas. There was a gear up at KMQS on Friday afternoon as well.

I wonder what the controller meant by "that was the amazing thing" she ever saw. Did he land with the gear partially down?
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No, she is responding when he say something like "Yeah, I think we're alright." Possible he made a good landing with little damage, i.e. the gear did not collapse. That would be kinda amazing.
 
My tow bar was white yesterday morning. I flew into Mckinney and saw all the stranded rich folks going to Addison that were routed to KTKI and heard them talking about this.


When I put the plane back in the hanger I painted the Tow bar red, just to help keep this from happening, although I think mine would fall off during taxi lol....
 
tmyers said:
All the smart phones and no one took video of this!!!!!
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What is even more amazing that they didn't have it on the news. He was flying a bit around before landing. Surprised one of the local news channels didn't pick it up and gave us the "heroic pilot who survived" story they usually do.
 
Stephie here at Addison is great. She handles traffic well, is well liked and really knows what she's doing.
We were on the way in yesterday when this happened. Were given vectors while he landed, then told runway would be closed for two hours. Went to McKinney and landed. Called later and were told no one was hurt but egos bruised and a Bonanza damaged from a collapsed nose gear.
Turns out our mechanic reacted to this. He related it was a big orange tow bar on the nose wheel.
Meanwhile, McKinney was great. The city has taken over what used to be the Cutter FBO. They did an excellent job. They were out of crew cars and gave us a rental at no charge. Very nice and pleasant. Fuel was reasonably priced. I put a positive comment on AirNav and know the city manager of McKinney. I called him to relate how much things have improved.

Best,

Dave
 
Marauder said:
What is even more amazing that they didn't have it on the news. He was flying a bit around before landing. Surprised one of the local news channels didn't pick it up and gave us the "heroic pilot who survived" story they usually do.
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He must have been on a flight plan.
 
Dave Siciliano said:
Stephie here at Addison is great. She handles traffic well, is well liked and really knows what she's doing.
We were on the way in yesterday when this happened. Were given vectors while he landed, then told runway would be closed for two hours. Went to McKinney and landed. Called later and were told no one was hurt but egos bruised and a Bonanza damaged from a collapsed nose gear.
Turns out our mechanic reacted to this. He related it was a big orange tow bar on the nose wheel.
Meanwhile, McKinney was great. The city has taken over what used to be the Cutter FBO. They did an excellent job. They were out of crew cars and gave us a rental at no charge. Very nice and pleasant. Fuel was reasonably priced. I put a positive comment on AirNav and know the city manager of McKinney. I called him to relate how much things have improved.

Best,

Dave
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Dave, might have seen you there as I was waiting for my instructor.
 
Maybe. An instructor I used in the baron was there Richard Klein. Chatted with him a bit. We used to avoid landing there. With the new FBO folks, we'll probably stop by more.

Best,

Dave
 
Steph's voice on the radio is like a welcome mat for Celia and me; we know we're in good hands when she's running Tower. In addition, she never gets rattled, and can really move the metal.

She saved my bacon once - long time ago. My first trip out in a Bonanza (club plane), flew wife and another couple, business acquaintances, to Abilene for dinner. It took way longer than it should have, and Addison was closing at 10:00PM local for striping, etc.

Flying back at Full Rental Power, sweating timely arrival. Regional Approach, on first call-up, asked me if I was aware of the impending closing (the 430 showed us arriving at 10:04 or so), and worked with us by giving excellent routing, right over the top of DFW (which they will often do anyway, but still...).

I rather suspect they coordinated with Steph, because the instant I was past the boundary of DFW, they handed me off to ADS Tower, something like 9:58 PM, and she immediately cleared me to land... and said, "It's your runway!"

We landed, and as we cleared the active, the airport was closed. Lucky break for us.

Steph is also a competitive baker, makes cookies and pastries that are simply manna from heaven - they were reason enough to attend the quarterly pilot-controller meet & greets that the old tower chief used to have.

It's nice when competence, character and kindness exist in the same person!
 
Ouch how did he get the gear up without noticing something was wrong. Like the controllers light hearted voice.
 
:thumbsup::thumbsup: to the controller . Don't know which is worst . Financial lost or the embarrassment ?
 
I heard about that happening on part 135 operator here in michigan quite a few years ago apparently he got into some serious trouble with the FAA, I think there were fines and suspension involved.

Wonder if the plane was 135 or 91? And would you get into trouble the same regardless?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD
 
Can someone explain why the runway was closed for two hours? Even if the did a FOD walk they should have been done far faster than that.
 
Just guessing here, but it was Sunday. The mechanic I use came in to assist. They may have allowed time for crew to lift the plane too reduce damage rather than do the push or lift off by folks that do farther damage. They've allowed that here before.

Best,

Dave
 
The woman sounds great. On top of things and capable. I always like people upbeat and sharp. Yes! Taking their time moving it to avoid further damage seems considerate and wise.
 
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At the flight school we had a policy stating that your hand didn't leave the towbar unless it was off the airplane. Towbars were NEVER left attached. That was a lesson learned the hard way, with a propstrike.

Dan
 
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