Taxiway Collison at GAI

[MDeitch1976]

This past Sunday 11-24-2012 was waiting for the engine to warm up to do my run up. A Velocity is coming up the taxiway off the Apron. Another flight school 172 does not yield and turns left coming off the taxiway onto the same portion the velocity is on. You see them both trying to maneuver to squeeze by each other. One of them makes the radio call asking if they are going to clear. No response. From my view, neither is going to clear wings. The Velocity has winglets on it, which made clearance an issue. Next thing you know, one of them is screaming "STOP! STOP! STOP!". Both of them still moving forward. They made contact Left wing on the Cessna to Left Winglet on the Velocity. They rotated each other about 20 to 30 degrees. I guess there was no serious damage. About 30 minutes later the Velocity is lining up 32 to get out of GAI.

Lesson here. If someone is on the Taxiway. STOP and let them out. If you both end up in a stand off. BOTH OF YOU STOP! Figure it out, and then proceed. My instructor and myself agreed that the Cessna had room to maneuver into the Grass. At most he needed five feet. He would of just cut a corner and been back on the concrete again.

In my inexperience, how do you determine everything is OK to go flying 20 minutes later?

 

[tmyers]

Either a great checkout by an A&P or large spherical appendages. Maybe both. I always try to err on the side of safety. I have watched some pretty long finals from those flying straight in approaches (their time was more important than mine I guess) to avoid a potential conflict. To me it is worth the extra 5 minutes to be safe in the long run.

 

[flyingmoose]

Well the safe answer is going to be always get it checked out. But you should be able to tell if something is wrong by the situation at hand. A chip in the paint or a wrinkled up flight control will make your decision for you. And then again if you don't know have someone else look at it.

 

[Old Geek]

Just plain idiocy to let it get so far that people are screaming on the radio and exchanging paint.

 

[MDeitch1976]

Just plain idiocy to let it get so far that people are screaming on the radio and exchanging paint.

I just wish I had a GoPro camera and an Audio Recorder for the cockpit. Not on the budget yet.

 

[douglas393]

Two planes hit wings hard enough to spin them and one takes off twenty minutes later. In my limited experience sounds like stupid pilot tricks, but then again I was not there.

 

[Jaybird180]

Think it might be in liveatc.net archives?

 

[MDeitch1976]

Think it might be in liveatc.net archives?

I will have to try that out after work.
This was GAI around 2100UTC

 

[MDeitch1976]

Two planes hit wings hard enough to spin them and one takes off twenty minutes later. In my limited experience sounds like stupid pilot tricks, but then again I was not there.

Haven't heard about any Velocity Crashes, yet? Hopefully this guy went direct to his A&P. If he assembled it himself, does that certify him to inspect it himself?

 

[flyingmoose]

I will have to try that out after work.
This was GAI around 2100UTC

If it was an uncontrolled airport then it will not be in there, its just a unicom.

 

[flyingmoose]

Haven't heard about any Velocity Crashes, yet? Hopefully this guy went direct to his A&P.

He doesn't have to, its experimental.

If he assembled it himself, does that certify him to inspect it himself?

Yep.

 

[MDeitch1976]

He doesn't have to, its experimental.

I am guessing the quick departure out of GAI was experimental too? It either was going to continue to fly, or not.

 

[flyingron]

Those things on the end of the Velocity wings aren't winglets. They're the vertical stabilizers/rudders.

 

[tmyers]

I have heard some strange stuff sitting at the end of the runway. Once heard two aircraft announce landings within about 10 seconds of each other. Problem was one was landing on 02 and the other was landing on 20. I made a friendly call that pointed out that detail and they both broke off. I then asked if it was ok for me to depart on 02. They both said yes.

 

[MDeitch1976]

Those things on the end of the Velocity wings aren't winglets. They're the vertical stabilizers/rudders.

Thank you for the info.
Even more critical to flight.

 

[VanDy]

Haven't heard about any Velocity Crashes, yet? Hopefully this guy went direct to his A&P. If he assembled it himself, does that certify him to inspect it himself?

Nothing required to work on an experimental amateur built aircraft, the builder can get a repairman certificate to perform conditional (annual equivalent) inspections or an A&P can do them.


-VanDy

 

[Unregistered]

Wow, I guess I just missed it. I landed in a Tiger at about 4:20 I think, and saw the Velocity taking off while I was pumping gas. Must have happened just a few minutes before I switched onto the frequency. Hope all is well with both planes.

 

[DaytonaLynn]

Lesson here. If someone is on the Taxiway. STOP and let them out. If you both end up in a stand off. BOTH OF YOU STOP! Figure it out, and then proceed. My instructor and myself agreed that the Cessna had room to maneuver into the Grass. At most he needed five feet. He would of just cut a corner and been back on the concrete again.

In my inexperience, how do you determine everything is OK to go flying 20 minutes later?

I had this happen Monday. I was taxining down taxiway after refueling and needing to cross the runway to get to the hangar. there is a egress at about a 45 deg from runway to taxiway. Plane comes off the runway, I see him, I stop. He sees me, he stops. He calls my tail number and says go ahead i need to be where you are. I proceeded around him and once clear he moves. Seemed simple enough! BUT had one of not stopped it would not have been simple.

 

[Fearless Tower]

If it was an uncontrolled airport then it will not be in there, its just a unicom.

FWIW, there are several CTAF and Unicom feeds that can be found on LiveATC and are archived as well. It just happens that GAI is not one of them however.

 

[GeorgeC]

When I was heading in to park in front of the FBO at GAI yesterday, someone else was heading out. I yielded to the right so that I could turn left behind them, rather than cut in front of them. I had to deviate from the painted stripes, but there was plenty of room everywhere. As I did so, it seemed that the other guy kept looking at me. Did I make a noob taxiway right-of-way mistake, or was he just keeping his head on a swivel?

Also, out of curiosity, which 172 swapped paint?

 

[MAKG1]

If I taxi by anything anywhere near a wingtip, whether it moves or not, I'll keep a very close eye on it.

Deviating off centerline is unusual, but it might be the only solution.

 

[denverpilot]

Learn something new every day. I never knew the winglets on a Velocity were high enough not to pass underneath a Cessna wingtip.

That said, I'm also typically not stupid enough to play chicken with them or anyone else when taxiing.

Root cause in these usuallyboeads back to the same question every time... What's the damn rush?

 

[flyingmoose]

FWIW, there are several CTAF and Unicom feeds that can be found on LiveATC and are archived as well. It just happens that GAI is not one of them however.

I didn't know that, thanks!

 

[MDeitch1976]

Did I make a noob taxiway right-of-way mistake, or was he just keeping his head on a swivel?


Also, out of curiosity, which 172 swapped paint?

I have seen planes go both ways. You can not please everyone.

Not sure which flight school plane. It was white and brown, my instructor had said it was a flight school plane.

 

[HerrGruyere]

Root cause in these usuallyboeads back to the same question every time... What's the damn rush?

Everyone in the D.C. area is in a rush. Even in stop-and-go they won't even let you in because they need to get there approximately 1 second before you.

If I taxi by anything anywhere near a wingtip, whether it moves or not, I'll keep a very close eye on it.

Me too. I probably would have waved/smiled/nodded instead of just glaring.