Thankful for others F#€k ups...
Posted: Tue May 05, 2015 6:43 pm
So yesterday was one of those non routine days. Got the adrenaline flowing and the pucker factor was high. Warning this is somewhat long and technical. I'll save some of you the I'm not reading all of that takes right here.
[Background] Corporation x1z is failing and is selling off assets. One of their assets is a GV. This plane hasn't been flown in months and has had checks and required maintenance deferred as well. The owner works with the bank to turn over the plane or to find a buyer. A buyer comes along and wants an inspection prior to closing. He also wants to name the maintenance facility. Bank and seller agree and I find myself on my way to CA to ferry this plane to FL. Besides myself there is another pilot and a mechanic from the chosen maintenance facility. [/Background]
I plan a route that will keep us within site of land as I don't want to spend extended time over the gulf in a plane lacking maintenance. FAA suggests as much when discussing ferry permit. Mechanic gives the plane a thorough inspection and fixes multiple things which we anticipated. The other pilot and I spend an extended time going thru the logs. We also do a detailed walk around the afternoon prior to departure. Yesterday we do another walk around and the mechanic does a few final checks.
All is within acceptable bounds and we close up and head for the runway. Things are normal thru the call outs until we get to positive rate of climb, gear up. The gear doesn't come up. Shortly thereafter we get an overspend warning. Thankfully both the other pilot and the mechanic who is in the jump seat are extremely competent. The other pilot has already disengaged the ground spoilers which was immediately on my mind. The mechanic also was thinking about it and asks if they are disarmed.
[Gulfstream tech] Gulftream jets have ground spoilers. This helps the plane stop if you have to reject a takeoff. It also helps upon landing. It works by deploying the spoilers, which interrupt the flow of air over the top of the wing causing a loss of lift. This is good in the above scenarios because it means the wings aren't generating lift and puts more of the weight on the wheels which increases braking power. It also increases drag which helps slow the plane. For the ground spoilers to deploy certain conditions must be met. 1). The plane must be in ground mode which is determined by weight on the wheels sensors which happen when the strut compresses and completes a circuit. 2). The ground spoilers must be armed in the cockpit. 3) The throttles must be brought to idle. If all of these conditions are met (along with other technical ones) the spoilers will deploy. [/Gulfstream tech]
[History Lesson] About a decade ago a GV is undergoing maintenance and is on jacks so a tire can be changed. Another mechanic comes along and needs the plane off the jacks to do his work. The super tells him to come back tomorrow. Dude doesnt want to come back, he wants to do his work now and needs the plane in ground mode to do so. With the plane on jacks this isn't possible. Dude grabs a snack while he tries to think of a work around. While eating his Popsicle he gets an idea. If he puts the popsicle stick in the strut it might trigger the weight on wheels switch. Turns out it does and dude goes about his work now that the plane is in "ground" mode despite being on jacks. Dude finishes and forgets to remove said Popsicle sticks. Of course he didn't put in the book that he used Popsicle sticks so the final inspection misses them. Pilots show up and also miss the Popsicle sticks on their walk around. They take off and can't raise the gear. They notice the plane is still in ground mode. They decide to return to the field and as they are 50 feet over the runway the ground spoilers deploy and the plane literally falls out of the sky. The 4G plus landing wrecks the plane and it is a complete write off. They got so worked up about the landing gear they forgot to disarm the spoilers despite it being on a checklist. [/History Lesson]
Back to yesterday. The above accident is known to all of us and as such all three of us checked the weight on wheels switch for obstructions. We see almost immediately that the plane is still in ground mode. This is the reason the gear won't retract. The overspeed warning isn't making any sense since we are far below max speed for takeoff or even climb. Even so in the back of my head the Air France crash in the Atlantic comes to mind and I decrease the climb angle a few degrees. I also do a little self talk and remind myself to first and foremost fly. Let the other two work out issues but my primary job is to fly.
Checklists are already out as I come out of my little self talk. The other pilot is working thru them while the mechanic is taking stock of all the CAS messages. Red ones first, then amber. Blue ones while not forgotten can wait. Plane is handling well and we still have plenty of power. We level off and inform the tower we need an immediate return. We are close to being overweight for landing but not by much. Easy decision, we need this plane on the ground ASAP.
As we line up for landing I think all three of us touched the ground spoiler switch to make sure it wasn't armed. I also reminded myself to use auto throttles. About a mile out we got another warning that the hydraulic system had faults and at this point I almost didn't care since I was "locked in" on flying.
Of course since you didn't see this on the news everything went fine. In fact the plane operationally handled fine. The electronic brains were the problem. Later after reflection on the situation I had a few drinks with the other guys and we offered up a few toasts to those who had been down this path before us. Unfortunately their mistakes made us more aware and better equipped to handle such a situation. We like to tell ourselves that wouldn't happen to us but then I am sure they felt and said the same thing.
Anyway lots of rambling to say thanks to those whose mistakes have helped the rest of us.
[Background] Corporation x1z is failing and is selling off assets. One of their assets is a GV. This plane hasn't been flown in months and has had checks and required maintenance deferred as well. The owner works with the bank to turn over the plane or to find a buyer. A buyer comes along and wants an inspection prior to closing. He also wants to name the maintenance facility. Bank and seller agree and I find myself on my way to CA to ferry this plane to FL. Besides myself there is another pilot and a mechanic from the chosen maintenance facility. [/Background]
I plan a route that will keep us within site of land as I don't want to spend extended time over the gulf in a plane lacking maintenance. FAA suggests as much when discussing ferry permit. Mechanic gives the plane a thorough inspection and fixes multiple things which we anticipated. The other pilot and I spend an extended time going thru the logs. We also do a detailed walk around the afternoon prior to departure. Yesterday we do another walk around and the mechanic does a few final checks.
All is within acceptable bounds and we close up and head for the runway. Things are normal thru the call outs until we get to positive rate of climb, gear up. The gear doesn't come up. Shortly thereafter we get an overspend warning. Thankfully both the other pilot and the mechanic who is in the jump seat are extremely competent. The other pilot has already disengaged the ground spoilers which was immediately on my mind. The mechanic also was thinking about it and asks if they are disarmed.
[Gulfstream tech] Gulftream jets have ground spoilers. This helps the plane stop if you have to reject a takeoff. It also helps upon landing. It works by deploying the spoilers, which interrupt the flow of air over the top of the wing causing a loss of lift. This is good in the above scenarios because it means the wings aren't generating lift and puts more of the weight on the wheels which increases braking power. It also increases drag which helps slow the plane. For the ground spoilers to deploy certain conditions must be met. 1). The plane must be in ground mode which is determined by weight on the wheels sensors which happen when the strut compresses and completes a circuit. 2). The ground spoilers must be armed in the cockpit. 3) The throttles must be brought to idle. If all of these conditions are met (along with other technical ones) the spoilers will deploy. [/Gulfstream tech]
[History Lesson] About a decade ago a GV is undergoing maintenance and is on jacks so a tire can be changed. Another mechanic comes along and needs the plane off the jacks to do his work. The super tells him to come back tomorrow. Dude doesnt want to come back, he wants to do his work now and needs the plane in ground mode to do so. With the plane on jacks this isn't possible. Dude grabs a snack while he tries to think of a work around. While eating his Popsicle he gets an idea. If he puts the popsicle stick in the strut it might trigger the weight on wheels switch. Turns out it does and dude goes about his work now that the plane is in "ground" mode despite being on jacks. Dude finishes and forgets to remove said Popsicle sticks. Of course he didn't put in the book that he used Popsicle sticks so the final inspection misses them. Pilots show up and also miss the Popsicle sticks on their walk around. They take off and can't raise the gear. They notice the plane is still in ground mode. They decide to return to the field and as they are 50 feet over the runway the ground spoilers deploy and the plane literally falls out of the sky. The 4G plus landing wrecks the plane and it is a complete write off. They got so worked up about the landing gear they forgot to disarm the spoilers despite it being on a checklist. [/History Lesson]
Back to yesterday. The above accident is known to all of us and as such all three of us checked the weight on wheels switch for obstructions. We see almost immediately that the plane is still in ground mode. This is the reason the gear won't retract. The overspeed warning isn't making any sense since we are far below max speed for takeoff or even climb. Even so in the back of my head the Air France crash in the Atlantic comes to mind and I decrease the climb angle a few degrees. I also do a little self talk and remind myself to first and foremost fly. Let the other two work out issues but my primary job is to fly.
Checklists are already out as I come out of my little self talk. The other pilot is working thru them while the mechanic is taking stock of all the CAS messages. Red ones first, then amber. Blue ones while not forgotten can wait. Plane is handling well and we still have plenty of power. We level off and inform the tower we need an immediate return. We are close to being overweight for landing but not by much. Easy decision, we need this plane on the ground ASAP.
As we line up for landing I think all three of us touched the ground spoiler switch to make sure it wasn't armed. I also reminded myself to use auto throttles. About a mile out we got another warning that the hydraulic system had faults and at this point I almost didn't care since I was "locked in" on flying.
Of course since you didn't see this on the news everything went fine. In fact the plane operationally handled fine. The electronic brains were the problem. Later after reflection on the situation I had a few drinks with the other guys and we offered up a few toasts to those who had been down this path before us. Unfortunately their mistakes made us more aware and better equipped to handle such a situation. We like to tell ourselves that wouldn't happen to us but then I am sure they felt and said the same thing.
Anyway lots of rambling to say thanks to those whose mistakes have helped the rest of us.