Expensive fender bender

[Bob Chilcoat]

Last week I stopped into the shop to see how the annual on our Archer was
progressing. While I was in the hangar, the FBO's Navajo pulled up outside
and shut down. Everyone dropped what they were doing and rushed outside to
see it. Turns out it had just been flown back from Allentown on a ferry
permit after a bad morning. The plane was parked on the ramp at Allentown
for some minor work before an Air-Taxi checkride the next day. A tug
operator was pulling a Lear Jet out of the hangar onto the ramp, which was a
sheet of ice. He had a hooded parka on, and couldn't see behind him. Not
seeing the Navajo behind him because of the hood, he suddenly found himself
pinned under the Navajo wing. The impact crunched the right main gear door,
dented the leading edge of the wing under the de-ice boots, scraped up the
bottom of the wing, and dented the nacelle. The operator then tried to
extricate himself by moving the tug forward. The wind then took the Lear
around on the ice, which jacknifed into tug, putting a long gash in the nose
of the Lear. The tug operator ended up with a broken leg and a few broken
ribs. The Navajo gear door will need replacing, the wing will need to be
re-skinned, and the de-ice boot will probably need replacing. The Lear was
ferried to the factory for an estimate. Ugh.

--
Bob (Chief Pilot, White Knuckle Airways)

[C J Campbell]

Ouch! The tug operator is lucky he didn't back into a prop. Perhaps when his
boss gets done with him, though, he may wish he had.

[G.R. Patterson III]

Bob Chilcoat wrote:
>
> A tug
> operator was pulling a Lear Jet out of the hangar onto the ramp, which was a
> sheet of ice. He had a hooded parka on, and couldn't see behind him.

Wonder why the tug didn't have a rear-view mirror.

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

[S Green]

"G.R. Patterson III" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Bob Chilcoat wrote:
> >
> > A tug
> > operator was pulling a Lear Jet out of the hangar onto the ramp, which
was a
> > sheet of ice. He had a hooded parka on, and couldn't see behind him.
>
> Wonder why the tug didn't have a rear-view mirror.
>
Probably thought it was too expensive all of $10

[BTIZ]

can you say... "your fired".. aka the Donald


"C J Campbell" > wrote in message
...
> Ouch! The tug operator is lucky he didn't back into a prop. Perhaps when
his
> boss gets done with him, though, he may wish he had.
>
>

[Michelle P]

George,
Most tugs do not have rear view mirrors because they are so open and you
are usually pushing a plane so you are facing it. It is one more thing
that will get broken.

Michelle

G.R. Patterson III wrote:

>Bob Chilcoat wrote:
>
>
>>A tug
>>operator was pulling a Lear Jet out of the hangar onto the ramp, which was a
>>sheet of ice. He had a hooded parka on, and couldn't see behind him.
>>
>>
>
>Wonder why the tug didn't have a rear-view mirror.
>
>George Patterson
> A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
> you look forward to the trip.
>
>

--

Michelle P ATP-ASEL, CP-AMEL, and AMT-A&P

"Elisabeth" a Maule M-7-235B (no two are alike)

Volunteer Pilot, Angel Flight Mid-Atlantic

Volunteer Builder, Habitat for Humanity

[James M. Knox]

Michelle P > wrote in
nk.net:

> George,
> Most tugs do not have rear view mirrors because they are so open and
> you are usually pushing a plane so you are facing it. It is one more
> thing that will get broken.

Heck with *rear* view mirrors, you are right about pushing a plane!

Friend of mine, couple of years ago, was in the runup area of a towered
airport, in her Cessna 172. Brakes locked, doing the runup ... WHAM.
Whole plane is shoved sideways and forward. After a moment to start
breathing again, she shuts down.

Turns out a construction forklift with a whopping big load of steel in the
forks had tried to take a shortcut. He had NO forward view, and had run
into the right rear of the plane. Amazing what damage a ton of steel can
do to an aluminum spam can. She was NOT a happy camper.

-----------------------------------------------
James M. Knox
TriSoft ph 512-385-0316
1109-A Shady Lane fax 512-366-4331
Austin, Tx 78721
-----------------------------------------------

[Shirley]

"James M. Knox" wrote:

>a construction forklift with a whopping big
>load of steel in the forks had tried to take
>a shortcut.

Saw a rental 172 at a local airport with the tip of one wing in shreds. Was
told the garbage truck, making its weekly pick-up on the field, got too close
and sheered the tip of the wing off, then the driver said that the *plane*
wasn't where he expected it to be. I guess!
:-)

[John Harlow]

> Saw a rental 172 at a local airport with the tip of one wing in
> shreds. Was told the garbage truck, making its weekly pick-up on the
> field, got too close and sheered the tip of the wing off, then the
> driver said that the *plane* wasn't where he expected it to be. I
> guess! :-)


Wasn't it in plane sight?

[Ron Natalie]

"James M. Knox" > wrote in message ...
> Turns out a construction forklift with a whopping big load of steel in the
> forks had tried to take a shortcut. He had NO forward view, and had run
> into the right rear of the plane. Amazing what damage a ton of steel can
> do to an aluminum spam can. She was NOT a happy camper.

Should get him a copy of Staplerfahrer Klaus to watch.

[Ron Natalie]

"Shirley" > wrote in message ...
> "James M. Knox" wrote:
>
> >a construction forklift with a whopping big
> >load of steel in the forks had tried to take
> >a shortcut.
>
> Saw a rental 172 at a local airport with the tip of one wing in shreds. Was
> told the garbage truck, making its weekly pick-up on the field, got too close
> and sheered the tip of the wing off, then the driver said that the *plane*
> wasn't where he expected it to be. I guess!

One day I came out to HEF for an early morning rental and there was carnage
on the ramp. Oddly it was confined to the portion of the ramp closest to
the fence...obviously not someone who crashed off the runway or something.
Turns out a bunch of guys got liquored up (owing to the large amount of empties
found in and around) and got into a King Air and managed to get one engine
fired up. The thing taxied around in a circle chewing up a number of planes.
It's amazing what a prop will do the side of a Lance.

Of course, a renter taxied my Navion into a Comanche once (he was trying to
avoid hitting a Lear, I guess that almost makes sense). The tip tank rode up
and over the cowling of the Comanche, making a tip tank shaped grove in the
cowling. My plane would have escaped damage entirely if the prop on the
piper had been horizontal. It cut a little notch in the leading edge of my wing
just inboard of the tip tank.

[Rick Glasser]

On Thu, 12 Feb 2004, Ron Natalie wrote:

>
> "Shirley" > wrote in message ...
> > "James M. Knox" wrote:
> >
> > >a construction forklift with a whopping big
> > >load of steel in the forks had tried to take
> > >a shortcut.
> >
> > Saw a rental 172 at a local airport with the tip of one wing in shreds. Was
> > told the garbage truck, making its weekly pick-up on the field, got too close
> > and sheered the tip of the wing off, then the driver said that the *plane*
> > wasn't where he expected it to be. I guess!
>
> One day I came out to HEF for an early morning rental and there was carnage
> on the ramp. Oddly it was confined to the portion of the ramp closest to
> the fence...obviously not someone who crashed off the runway or something.
> Turns out a bunch of guys got liquored up (owing to the large amount of empties
> found in and around) and got into a King Air and managed to get one engine
> fired up. The thing taxied around in a circle chewing up a number of planes.
> It's amazing what a prop will do the side of a Lance.
>
> Of course, a renter taxied my Navion into a Comanche once (he was trying to
> avoid hitting a Lear, I guess that almost makes sense). The tip tank rode up
> and over the cowling of the Comanche, making a tip tank shaped grove in the
> cowling. My plane would have escaped damage entirely if the prop on the
> piper had been horizontal. It cut a little notch in the leading edge of my wing
> just inboard of the tip tank.
>
>

Ron, you need to get a new plane. Waaaay too much bad karma surrounding
that Navion!

--
Rick/JYO
remove 'nospam' to reply

[Ron Natalie]

"Rick Glasser" > wrote in message ogz.net...
> Ron, you need to get a new plane. Waaaay too much bad karma surrounding
> that Navion!

It takes a licking and keeps on ticking. However, it's going to be a completely
different experience when I get it back. Engine with 9 hours since factory new,
large amounts of the airframe replaced new (a whole warehouse full of factory
Navion parts just because available last year), new panel, new radios, new interior,
new paint.

[G.R. Patterson III]

Ron Natalie wrote:
>
> However, it's going to be a completely different experience when I get it back.

And what's the ETA now?

George Patterson
A diplomat is a person who can tell you to go to hell in such a way that
you look forward to the trip.

[Ron Natalie]

"G.R. Patterson III" > wrote in message ...
>
>
> Ron Natalie wrote:
> >
> > However, it's going to be a completely different experience when I get it back.
>
> And what's the ETA now?

They're putting in the new panel now, then it goes to the paint/interior shop...should
have it soon.

[Newps]

Ron Natalie wrote:

> "G.R. Patterson III" > wrote in message ...
>
>>
>>Ron Natalie wrote:
>>
>>>However, it's going to be a completely different experience when I get it back.
>>
>>And what's the ETA now?
>
>
> They're putting in the new panel now, then it goes to the paint/interior shop...should
> have it soon.
And soon is always....."Two Weeks."

[[email protected]]

Ron Natalie > wrote:

>> And what's the ETA now?

> They're putting in the new panel now, then it goes to the
> paint/interior shop...should have it soon.

Ron, will it be ready for and flying to: Sun-N-Fun?


Best regards,

Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocation!" Eberhard

--
Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jer'at'frii.com WEB http://users.frii.com/jer/
C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider, FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot, BM218 HAM N0FZD, 197 Young Eagles!

[Margy Natalie]

Oshkosh for sure (I hope)

Margy

wrote:

> Ron Natalie > wrote:
>
> >> And what's the ETA now?
>
> > They're putting in the new panel now, then it goes to the
> > paint/interior shop...should have it soon.
>
> Ron, will it be ready for and flying to: Sun-N-Fun?
>
> Best regards,
>
> Jer/ "Flight instruction and mountain flying are my vocation!" Eberhard
>
> --
> Jer/ (Slash) Eberhard, Mountain Flying Aviation, LTD, Ft Collins, CO
> CELL 970 231-6325 EMAIL jer'at'frii.com WEB http://users.frii.com/jer/
> C-206 N9513G, CFII Airplane&Glider, FAA-DEN Aviation Safety Counselor
> CAP-CO Mission&Aircraft CheckPilot, BM218 HAM N0FZD, 197 Young Eagles!

[Fredrik Thörnell]

I know of one case where a mobile crane took off on a sightseeing tour of
its own. It sneaked onto a nearby airport (through the fence) and into a
hangar (through the door) and mangled a new jet fighter against the inner
wall. The contractor was insured to about $2,000,000. Rumour has it he
went rather pale when told about the cost of the damages...

Cheers,
Fred