Flying_Nun
Line Up and Wait
From the Twitters.... https://twitter.com/_lrhughes/status/999709494719471617
Hope it wasn't a POAer.
Lucas Hughes @_lrhughes
This just happened today. A tale of unintentional $800,000 airplane theft. Imagine someone flying your plane that was too dumb to know they were flying your plane. I give you the story of Cirrus Pilot A and Cirrus Pilot B. #AvGeek #Cirrus #Pilot
Cirrus Pilot A flies his plane in on Monday. The plane breaks down and needs maintenance. We put it in the hangar. He leaves it and drives home. Maintenance comes, leaves keys on the dash as they were found before. * 3 days pass *
Cirrus Pilot B flies his [new as well] plane in on Thursday. He’s training. It’s his second flight with his instructor. Parks on the tie-downs...Leaves. His. Keys. on. The. Dash. Gets a ride to go eat.
Cirrus Pilot A comes to get his plane because it’s fixed. I tell him the keys are on the dash (that’s how it was left, right!?!?) without knowing the situation of Cirrus Pilot B. Cirrus Pilot A gets in Cirrus Pilot B’s plane and flies HALFWAY home before realizing his mistake.
Meanwhile, Cirrus Pilot B comes back from eating and pays his service fee. He’s standing in front of me when he hears HIS tail number come over the unicom on final approach… “...that’s my tail number...” * looks toward tiedowns *
“MY PLANE IS GONE!?!? That guy stole my plane!!! Tell him to bring it back!!” Cirrus Pilot A calls final approach again. I get on the unicom, “Cirrus N****, what are your intentions with the airplane?” Cirrus Pilot A: “I picked up the wrong **** airplane!”
Cirrus Pilot B in the background: “Tell him to taxi it up here right NOW!” Cirrus Pilot A taxi’s the plane in, the two guys exchange semi-heated words. Fault was admitted quickly, and tempers didn’t flare. Thank goodness.
Cirrus Pilot A offered to pay for the Hobbs time and any fuel consumed. Numbers were exchanged. Cirrus Pilot A came in to me and said the keys were indeed on the dash, but readily admitted he “picked up” the wrong airplane and just took off.
He thought we had pulled it out of the hangar already, and I said “No sir, we weren’t told to pull it out.” Most pilots do pre-flight in the hangar to escape the heat. This guy just hopped in and went!
Moral of the story folks, don’t leave the keys on the dash of your airplane. This ended extremely well given the circumstances, but could have been tragic. #endofstory #lockyourplanes #hideyoplaneshideyokeys
Hope it wasn't a POAer.
Lucas Hughes @_lrhughes
This just happened today. A tale of unintentional $800,000 airplane theft. Imagine someone flying your plane that was too dumb to know they were flying your plane. I give you the story of Cirrus Pilot A and Cirrus Pilot B. #AvGeek #Cirrus #Pilot
Cirrus Pilot A flies his plane in on Monday. The plane breaks down and needs maintenance. We put it in the hangar. He leaves it and drives home. Maintenance comes, leaves keys on the dash as they were found before. * 3 days pass *
Cirrus Pilot B flies his [new as well] plane in on Thursday. He’s training. It’s his second flight with his instructor. Parks on the tie-downs...Leaves. His. Keys. on. The. Dash. Gets a ride to go eat.
Cirrus Pilot A comes to get his plane because it’s fixed. I tell him the keys are on the dash (that’s how it was left, right!?!?) without knowing the situation of Cirrus Pilot B. Cirrus Pilot A gets in Cirrus Pilot B’s plane and flies HALFWAY home before realizing his mistake.
Meanwhile, Cirrus Pilot B comes back from eating and pays his service fee. He’s standing in front of me when he hears HIS tail number come over the unicom on final approach… “...that’s my tail number...” * looks toward tiedowns *
“MY PLANE IS GONE!?!? That guy stole my plane!!! Tell him to bring it back!!” Cirrus Pilot A calls final approach again. I get on the unicom, “Cirrus N****, what are your intentions with the airplane?” Cirrus Pilot A: “I picked up the wrong **** airplane!”
Cirrus Pilot B in the background: “Tell him to taxi it up here right NOW!” Cirrus Pilot A taxi’s the plane in, the two guys exchange semi-heated words. Fault was admitted quickly, and tempers didn’t flare. Thank goodness.
Cirrus Pilot A offered to pay for the Hobbs time and any fuel consumed. Numbers were exchanged. Cirrus Pilot A came in to me and said the keys were indeed on the dash, but readily admitted he “picked up” the wrong airplane and just took off.
He thought we had pulled it out of the hangar already, and I said “No sir, we weren’t told to pull it out.” Most pilots do pre-flight in the hangar to escape the heat. This guy just hopped in and went!
Moral of the story folks, don’t leave the keys on the dash of your airplane. This ended extremely well given the circumstances, but could have been tragic. #endofstory #lockyourplanes #hideyoplaneshideyokeys