Full story here:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-woman-foot-arm-severed-plane-propeller
TLDR; Passenger lost some body parts after exiting plane and stepping into the propeller
Tragic, but not all that relevent to CAP ops as engines must be shut down when passengers board or deplane.
Also...WTH?
"The pilot got out to see if the blocks beneath the airplane tires were still in place."
And with the above said, and the prohibition in place, I've seen a/c get out of and enter CAP aircraft
with the salad chopper running ((*sigh*)).
Quote from: Ozzy on October 14, 2019, 03:38:28 AM
Full story here:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-woman-foot-arm-severed-plane-propeller
TLDR; Passenger lost some body parts after exiting plane and stepping into the propeller
How do you lose a FOOT to a Cessna propeller???
In my other job, I deal with some interesting aviation safety challenges:
- Aircraft ground operations in proximity to others (participants, spectators, staff)
- Quick aircraft ground turnarounds (on the order of 3-5 minutes per sortie)
- Passenger hot loading (as above, 18-23 pax safely on board a running aircraft in short order)
- Aircraft hot fueling
In training participants, one of the first things we talk about is aircraft safety and how to approach the aircraft. Thankfully, apart from rotary-wing ops (which are tremendously infrequent), teaching "only approach the aircraft from the side, behind the wing" is a pretty universal rule whether its a piston single, turbine twin or whatever.
This year we went from a turbine twin with prop arcs just aft of the pilot door to a turbine single with the prop at the nose. The rules didn't change: participants and staff approach the aircraft from the side, aft of the wing. Even then, its still important to put controls into place:
- The aircraft boarding stairs, when placed at the aircraft, have a physical barrier between the operating area fence and the stairs to channelize people aft of the wing.
- Right-seat passengers only enter & exit the aircraft via the boarding stairs, not the right side door, unless the aircraft is shut down.
- Staff bringing the pilot lunch enter and exit the aircraft via the boarding stairs. Never bring lunch to the left-side pilot door.
- Nobody but participants and staff approach the aircraft while its running, ever. Spectators are never allowed near the aircraft while it is running, and if they want to look at it while it's not running, they must be accompanied by a staff member.
Occasionally, people still do dumb things like getting task fixated and walking into a prop... Its the nature of the beast.
People walk into traffic all the time, too. It happens.
If the boarding door is forward of the prop, never approach/board from the rear. Approach only from the front quarter that offers door access (e.g., if the door is forward of the left-side wing-mounted prop, approach is only from the door's 9:00-11:00 radial). Don't walk under wings, and don't cross the longitudinal axis (nose-to-tail); stay only on the boarding side. If you're going to board a twin aircraft, the boarding-side engine should not be running if people are boarding forward of it. I'm quite familiar with with a case of a ground agent walking under a wing rather than around it (when approaching from the rear) and going straight into a feathered turboprop.
At no time should a PIC leave the flight controls unattended when the engine is running. The fact that this even occurred is moronic and lazy. Either radio ground crew, or take the time to shut down, visually verify, and restart if you have to; it is what it is.
Procedures are only as good as when they're followed and enforced. A little common sense goes a long way...but the person has to have it first.
Quote from: Dwight Dutton on October 14, 2019, 01:27:41 PM
Quote from: Ozzy on October 14, 2019, 03:38:28 AM
Full story here:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-woman-foot-arm-severed-plane-propeller
TLDR; Passenger lost some body parts after exiting plane and stepping into the propeller
How do you lose a FOOT to a Cessna propeller???
Well, it wasn't necessarily a Cessna, the article didn't state the aircraft model.
Quote from: Ozzy on October 14, 2019, 02:37:51 PM
Quote from: Dwight Dutton on October 14, 2019, 01:27:41 PM
Quote from: Ozzy on October 14, 2019, 03:38:28 AM
Full story here:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-woman-foot-arm-severed-plane-propeller
TLDR; Passenger lost some body parts after exiting plane and stepping into the propeller
How do you lose a FOOT to a Cessna propeller???
Well, it wasn't necessarily a Cessna, the article didn't state the aircraft model.
Another article said it was a C172S
Quote from: Dwight Dutton on October 14, 2019, 01:27:41 PM
Quote from: Ozzy on October 14, 2019, 03:38:28 AM
Full story here:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-woman-foot-arm-severed-plane-propeller
TLDR; Passenger lost some body parts after exiting plane and stepping into the propeller
How do you lose a FOOT to a Cessna propeller???
Followups stories saying may only be arm:
https://nypost.com/2019/10/13/florida-woman-loses-arm-in-grisly-propeller-plane-accident/
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/florida-keys/article236092133.html
Also identifies victims and pilots, and aircraft type as Jeders mentioned.
This makes an interesting argument for removing the wheel pants...
Quote from: Dwight Dutton on October 14, 2019, 01:27:41 PM
Quote from: Ozzy on October 14, 2019, 03:38:28 AM
Full story here:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-woman-foot-arm-severed-plane-propeller
TLDR; Passenger lost some body parts after exiting plane and stepping into the propeller
How do you lose a FOOT to a Cessna propeller???
I can see the force of the initial impact throwing the victim into the air with a flailing foot crossing the prop disc. Think of an ice skater losing his balance and flipping heels over head.
It's interesting how sometimes posts say xyz can't possibly happen in CAP because of CAPR 70.1234 (or whatever reg) says a particular unsafe practice is "prohibited". Stupid stuff happens anyhow. I think it's healthy to ask "How's our unit safety culture?" Over the years I've observed or heard after the fact of several questionable CAP practices. Is a C206 airworthy if the rear door lock is intermittently hanging up and not allowing crew (or pax) in the aft seats to get out without a lot of fiddling with the latch? Is making an "important meeting" justification for a van loaded with several SM operating for miles at freeway speeds when occupants of the rears seats hear a loud and continuous rumble of a rear tire (later found to be split). Didn't CAP payout millions of dollars just a couple years ago to the widow of a pilot killed when basic safety practices were ignored and a high level of professionalism was missing in a glider tow operation? I would be surprised if most of us on forum aren't aware of at least a couple of potentially serious safety lapses where 'see something say something' didn't happen in real time, and maybe never did happen.