The Aero Club Chronicles
This story is lightly based on events that happened at a flight school. Names, facts and locations have been altered to make the story non-fiction. I started managing this flight school almost three years ago. As a former commuter airline pilot and flight instructor with a background in sales, I figured that I would be able to manage the place with no problems at all. I was not prepared for the drama, ups and downs and the overall exasperating situations that would keep me up for nights. The former manager was asked to leave and I was seven months pregnant. Talk about an owner who believed in me, or maybe he was just desperate. Either way, my education began. Over time, I managed to stop the place from losing money, build a clientele and add a couple more airplanes. My goal was to provide an extremely laid-back atmosphere that was professional, yet fun. I went through the trials and tribulations of hiring people, firing people and watching people leave as they achieved their goals. After a while, I found the right combination of office gurus and flight instructors.
This past week, we had our first plane crash. Whoa, I was not ready for that. Is anyone ever ready for a crash? It was probably the best instructor I have. He was alone, in a twin and the left main gear collapsed. He was flying in the pattern and after cycling the gear a few times, it finally locked with three green. He did a fly by the tower and they confirmed that the gear was down. So, he landed. The gear collapsed. He was about a foot from the center line when the plane stopped its ninety degree turn. Somehow, he had the mindset to pull the mixtures as he noticed the left wing going down as the tower was yelling, “go around.” After shutting the plane down and securing it, he jumped out and ran away from it. He called his Dad, and then he called me. “Hi. I am so sorry. I just landed at the airport and the left main gear collapsed.” We will call him Stan. “Stan, what happened?” As he relayed the story to me, it went something like this: “I put the gear down and didn’t get a light. I cycled the gear a couple more times and then flew by the tower. They saw the gear. I cycled it again and it went down and locked and I had three green. So, I landed.” At first I thought the kid was joking. He is young and quite witty in general. It took a minute before I realized he was serious. “Stan, are you ok?” “Yeah, I am ok, but I am so sorry.” “Are you sure you are ok?” “I’m sure but I just crashed a bleeping airplane.” “Well Stan,” I said, “you must have done a damned good job crashing it because you are ok! Obviously you will need a ride home. Let me call the director of maintenance and I will call you back. Is the FAA there?” “No not yet.” “Ok, I will call you back.” “Ok. Thanks…”
Remarkably, this was the first time I needed to call the DOM after hours. The realization set in that I didn’t have his cell number or a way to get in touch with him. His office closed at 5:00 p.m.. It was 5:18 pm. I called anyway, and thank goodness, a guy answered. “Hi, the twin is gear up on the runway down there. I need to talk to Joe.” They didn’t have his cell either. Actually, the guy who answered didn’t even know Joe’s last name. Fortunately, he found his home number. I called. He wasn’t home, so I spoke to his wife. I informed her that we had an emergency and that I really needed to speak to him. Ten minutes later he called, pretty unhappy. We both were on our way to the airport. I was going to collect the now spazzing pilot, and he was going to scrape the airplane off the runway. “What happened?” he asked. “Well, um the left gear collapsed.” “Is he ok?” “Yup, and he was alone in the plane.” We met at the airport and two other mechanics, Joe and I went out to the runway. Stan was in a vehicle with the FAA inspector. He wouldn’t speak to the inspector about what happened. He was scared to death. Plus, he had a friend from his flight school at home who had gone to law school who told him: “Don’t ever talk to the FAA right after a crash. You will say something stupid and incriminate yourself. Just wait; by the regs you have 10 days.” So, as one would expect, the FAA inspector Bob, thought Stan had something to hide. Let the inquisition begin……. As I drove Stan home, I asked him a lot of questions. I wanted to know what it sounded like as the plane dragged across the runway. What physically happened to his body as the airplane was spinning ninety degrees. What was he thinking as the plane started to go down on the left? We talked a lot and he was able to describe what happened quite clearly. “I didn’t want to do the emergency extension because once you do that you can’t cycle the gear again. I wanted to try and get it to lock, just in case it wouldn’t lock when the emergency gear knob was pulled.” I delivered him to his front door and he got out of my car mumbling something about Margaritas. “Get some sleep,” I yelled as he disappeared behind the front door.
To be continued………….
The aircraft involved was a Seminole. Log onto www.ecacnashua.com User Forums to discuss what you think might have happened with the gear or with the pilot.
By: Cyndi McLaughlin. The General Manager for East Coast Aero Club Nashua. She holds an ATP with over 4000 hours and is a CFII and MEI.