50 Years Ago Today

[GeeBee]

Every once in a while we need a reminder about ramp and propeller safety.

50 years ago today, I was a line boy. I was filling my fuel truck through the top hatch (can't do that anymore) at the FBO/Flight School/Flying Club at KRHV. I was working at to earn money for my PPL. It was night and I was on top of my truck so I had a wide view of the ramp. Two airplanes were fired up and running. Both 172s. One was having an alternator problem. The owner of the FBO, a United pilot, was helping the renter. He was standing at the open left door, cycling on and off the master switch. Obviously the beacon and nav lights would go off when. he cycled down. It happened in the blink of an eye. A returning pilot was walking across the ramp. He obviously thought the engine he heard was the 172 behind him. It was not. I yelled at the top of my lungs to stop him, but too late. He walked into the running prop of the airplane with electrical difficulty. If there was a small grace, he hit the upswing.

I never in a million years would have guessed a human body could bend the outer 12 inches of a prop blade back almost 90 degrees. I never would have guessed he would have been alive. But he was. I grabbed all the windshield towels in my fuel truck and came running over. The owner's wife was an RN, she instructed me to "wet them down. quick". So I ran over to the wash rack and hosed them down and ran back. She packed the gash and held him together until the ambulance arrived. He recovers but had to walk with two canes for the rest of his life. He lost a large amount of intestine and bowel and suffered from "short bowel syndrome" which shortened his life.

The scene that still is etched in my mind to this day is using the wash rack hose to rinse guts and entrails and watching them go down the storm drain. 

There are some lessons here that were life long for me.

I always run the beacon when the master is on. In fact, I just leave the switch on. I can buy new bulbs and flashers if the voltage spikes get them.

I religiously adhere to FAR 91.209. (a)2   I don't stop the beacon and nav lights at night until the airplane. is in the hangar or tied down and getting ready to close and lock the door. I can charge the battery later

I never walk within a wing span's distance of an airplane on the ramp and two times that from the props or engines.

 

 

[gsxrpilot]

I started leaving my strobes and nav lights on all the time after once leaving the master on and going home. After installing a new battery I decided since the lights go off with the master, I'd leave them on and then there's no possible way I could forget and leave the master on while closing up the hangar.

But your reason is even better.

[StevenL757]

@GeeBee, really appreciate you sharing that.  I can't imagine how horrible that was to experience...in mere seconds.  I'll likely adjust my flow and shutdown/securing procedures for day and night ops going forward.

Steve

[KB4]

Tragic story.  Fortunately for him, you were there in seconds to help and undoubtedly made the difference in saving his life.  Making the switch to LED's means you just leave all lights on all the time.  Big thanks to @StevenL757 who lost 2 great flying days helping me with my LED's few years back. 

[carusoam]

Wow,
on one hand... that clearly gives an example of an involuntary distraction...  the brain tuning out the obvious danger...

on the other hand... an example of an ordinary line boy jumping in to provide life saving efforts... fantastic display of humanity!

Beware of how distractions can occur... at any time, anywhere..
 

Thanks for sharing the details...

Best regards,

-a-

[Nick Pilotte]

The man Dad bought our Cherokee from (and kept at his private strip afterwards) witnessed a little girl run into a prop once.  She broke free from her Mom when Dad was taxiing to the ramp.  She survived but he would tear up talking about it every time.  He used it as a constant reminder to me as an active 5 year old to respect the aircraft at all times.  I miss him.  Another good pilot who has flown west before I could take him for a ride. 

[Bob Weber]

Never, ever, treat an aircraft as though it is not running. This was beaten into me by multiple people much of my formidable years.

An old, very worn out and abused little plaque with about 50 years of history in my family.

It sits prominently above my desk today.

[Nick Pilotte]

I have a framed print of that in my office too.  My Dad purchased it at The Air Force Museum in Dayton. 

[David Lloyd]

In 1972 I saw my girlfriend's cousin coming home from her shift as an ER nurse at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro.  She said it was an awful night. A man was brought in that had walked into a spinning propeller at the airport.  The prop entered his forehead just above his eyes, vertically and exited the back. I would have thought such an injury would have been instantly fatal but, she said when he came in, he was conscious, talking and holding his hands against the sides of his head to keep it from parting.  He talked to his wife on the phone before dying. Anytime an ER nurse is shaken by something, well...She said it was the worse thing she had ever seen. She didn't think she could go to work that night.  There were tears at some point.  Just a few years ago I asked her if she remember that.  Yes, it was one of the two or three worst things she saw in the ER in 25 years.

Every time I get near a propeller, I think of her story. I cringe seeing someone near a prop on a running engine.  

[Htwjr]

It is not just the running ones that are dangerous.  My mechanic was standing in front of a plane facing forward talking with someone and rested his arm on the prop when it started.  He was not injured but talk about a close call. 

[David Lloyd]

Doesn't even have to move.  I had just tied my Bo down at Muscle Shoals one afternoon as a Lear taxied past.  Who wouldn't turn their head and look?  Took a step as I turned my head to walk off and caught the end of the Q-tip prop right between the eyes.  Bulldozed a piece of skin the size of a silver dollar across my forehead.  Blood was on my shoes before I could walk around the plane to get a couple shop towels.  MSL had kind of a strange FBO.  Located in the airline (such that it is) building, to get to the restroom you exit the FBO into the terminal building.  Looking like a disaster victim,  I would have really caused a scene if it was post 9/11.

[aviatoreb]

2 hours ago, David Lloyd said:

Doesn't even have to move.  I had just tied my Bo down at Muscle Shoals one afternoon as a Lear taxied past.  Who wouldn't turn their head and look?  Took a step as I turned my head to walk off and caught the end of the Q-tip prop right between the eyes.  Bulldozed a piece of skin the size of a silver dollar across my forehead.  Blood was on my shoes before I could walk around the plane to get a couple shop towels.  MSL had kind of a strange FBO.  Located in the airline (such that it is) building, to get to the restroom you exit the FBO into the terminal building.  Looking like a disaster victim,  I would have really caused a scene if it was post 9/11.

That was a not spinning prop, right?

Glad you are ok.

E

[David Lloyd]

Not spinning.  My head was.  Apparently not hard enough...yet.

[aviatoreb]

1 hour ago, David Lloyd said:

Not spinning.  My head was.  Apparently not hard enough...yet.

Well thank goodness.

[aviatoreb]

This thread has reminded me of another tragedy and one strangely related to my airplane I currently own.  I purchased my airplane from a fellow who had purchased it from an estate a few years earlier.  In doing my buyer's diligence of calling around to a few of the shops that were listed in the log book as to their impression of the airplane, one of them told me of the fate of the earlier owner who had owned it for over twenty years.  He had stepped out of his car after parallel parking road side, apparently without checking his rear view mirror.  Then you can guess the rest.  He stepped out of the car and immediately got hit by a car.  Such a random tragedy.  I think of him often when I park my car roadside and I diligently check my rear view mirrors more so carefully than before I bought this plane over ten years ago.  Knock on wood and who knows, maybe I live longer simply by avoiding that one accident scenario, I hope.  The stereotype is that an airplane owner dies in a terrible airplane accident.  I get that schtick sometimes from well meaning colleagues and friends.  People who hunt, people who boat, hike, snowmobile, drink and smoke, and all sorts of other things but look down their noses at me for doing a risking thing.  I don't begrudge them and I know they are only worrying about me.  I read this thread with great interest since I certainly don't want to walk into a moving prop.  So many random things can happen to our fragile bodies, and many are avoidable  if only we are diligent.

Edited April 12, 2020 by aviatoreb

[cliffy]

Unfortunately I've seen 2 of them. One was a mechanic working on a 4 engine Heron who moved the prop and got hit on the wrist by the prop. Broke his wrist but didn't draw blood.

The other was the aftermath of a guy that jumped down off a 310 between the engine and the fuselage  to go to the office. The ramp had not been cleaned up yet. 

I have a kinship with the OPs memories. 

As an A&P I've worked on engines while the engine was running (1 foot from the prop). But in ALL cases I had one hand on the engine mount to keep me from ever getting into the prop. Never broke that rule. 

I've hand propped easily a hundred airplanes but always with care and planning. 

Once watched as a guy tried to straighten a wobbly spinner on the engine of an MU-2 while it was running!  He walked right up to it a slapped it once and walked back. Guttsy   You couldn't pay enough to do that. 

Aviation is very unforgiving of stupidity. 

[GeeBee]

Maybe that MU-2 prop was in beta 

On turbines I've seen a guy almost get sucked into a CFM-56. We were doing proving runs for the then new 737NG. We pulled into KMDT, the Fleet Captain was left, the Chief LCA shotgun. I was in the back, along with the FAA. They had just painted the red arcs on the ramp and a new guy was on the ramp, did not heed them since he was used to. the MD-80s. I saw him from the right side sitting in First Class. The cockpit door was open and I saw the ramp guy suddenly get yanked forward, I knew immediately what was going on an I ran forward and yanked the levers to cutoff. He was holding himself against he inlet, his face inches from the fan blades. Poor guy literally pee'd his pants. He went to the locker room and quit, then and there. With wing mounted fans, I would never proceed into the gate with anyone, or anything over the yellow line. Too much at stake.

 

[cliffy]

Yes it was in Beta when he did it

I was on the head set on the ground starting a 707-720 back in the 60s talking to the crew when a last minute bag was driven up and the bag buster went to the front bag bay opened it, threw in the bag and closed the door. Nothing unusual as this happened several times a day then. He then turned around and walked directly in front of #3 running at idle before I had a chance to say anything his jacket that was slung over his right shoulder was sucked into the engine and lodged against the 1st stage stator vanes, he then actually reached in and grabbed it and pulled it out as I'm yelling at the crew to kill #3.   Lucky S&* 

[GeeBee]

Did that 707-720 have a Indian head on the side?

 

[cliffy]

In those days we called it "the dirty bird with the brass ass"   CAL at LAX Gate 65  I've never forgotten it. 

[GeeBee]

I was just across from you at Terminal 5.

 

[RobertGary1]

On 4/10/2020 at 7:23 AM, gsxrpilot said:

I started leaving my strobes and nav lights on all the time after once leaving the master on and going home. After installing a new battery I decided since the lights go off with the master, I'd leave them on and then there's no possible way I could forget and leave the master on while closing up the hangar.

But your reason is even better.

I leave the beacon on but not the strobe since I don't want to blind pilots when I start at night. The beacon switch just stays in the on position all the time.

If you have a tailbeacon you have to leave the nav lights on all the time so I guess it makes sense to just leave that switch on in that case too.

-Robert 

[cliffy]

6 hours ago, GeeBee said:

I was just across from you at Terminal 5.

 

Warning- slight thread drift for a short moment

Do you remember the  circular AA "Sound Chamber" they built near the AA hangar at the west end? IIRC the first time they used it they broke a rudder on a 707 and never used it again? 

I'm buying lunch if we ever meet

Back to our regular program

[GeeBee]

Yes!

[KRviator]

On 4/13/2020 at 10:22 AM, GeeBee said:

On turbines I've seen a guy almost get sucked into a CFM-56. 

IT has happened. Continental 1515 in El Paso ingested an engineer a few years ago. The aftermath was what you'd imagine.

When I was doing my Loadmaster thing on the Herc's, I was amazed at the number of people, aircrew as well as groundcrew, that would walk through the prop arc of #2 & 3. I got asked several times why I was always brushing the fuselage walking front-back or vice versa.