Friday and Saturday of the long holiday weekend had been wet and muddy, but those who persevered were rewarded with a Sunday and Monday of low winds and sunny blue skies. By Monday evening all but three of us had left the informal fly in. When I landed, the other two PPCs were in the air and I hoped to get my wife to go up with me for a sunset instructional flight.
Before I had a chance to bag my chute, a woman and her teenage son came running towards me. I assumed that they had seen us in the air and were interested in finding out more about these fun aircraft. However, in worried tones, the woman told me that one of the other PPCs had lost a wheel on takeoff, and her youngest son was in the back seat of that plane, receiving his first intro flight.
I tried to radio the pilot, but he didn’t have a radio. I then sent the teenager to retrieve the wheel, and the three of us stood in the middle of the field waving our arms and holding up the wheel. None of this seemed to get the desired response from the pilot. (Later he told me that he said to his student “Look, you mom’s waving at you.)
The only other thing that I could think to do was radio the other plane in the air. I am not sure what good that would have done, but contacting him was also unsuccessful. So, with arms flailing and the wheel held aloft, we waited about fifteen minutes until the two wheeled PPC came in on approach. I hoped that he would fly low down the runway, giving me one more chance to get his attention, but he came in and touched down far from where we were standing. As soon as the bare axle touched the ground the plane slid sideways and veered to the left into the junipers along the runway. Luckily, the plane didn’t roll, and the pilot quickly killed the mags and climbed out of his seat. We had a very surprised and embarrassed BFI, a relieved mom, and a young boy with an exciting story to tell, but there was no damage to either plane or occupants.
I have thought about this incident for several weeks now, and I think that I have learned from this. It is true that this may be a failure to completely and properly preflight the plane. I did not observe the preflight of this plane, but the pilot has four plus years of experience and I assume that he does his preflight. Was he complacent? Probably. I know that I check the wheel nuts, but it can become sort of mechanical. And, I suppose the right set of conditions could have caused the nut to spin off during the takeoff roll.
What else could have been done? My wife said we shouldn’t fly unless we have a working radio. In this situation that could have alerted the pilot, but what if no one had noticed the wheel fall off? If I hadn’t landed no radio would have been available on the field. Plus, it is the pilot that is responsible for his plane, not spectators or other pilots that happen to be standing around. Also, radios are often unreliable. Batteries go dead in flight, and reception can be spotty.
I plan on getting a big red flag to wave and I am going to suggest that even at informal fly ins we have a pilot briefing and talk about emergency procedures.
I believe that we all should have a pre landing check list, and I am developing my own. I had never thought about a formal checklist before landing, but other pilots in the aviation community have pre landing check lists. Pilots check that the landing gear is down. They reset variable pitch props so they can make a sudden go around if necessary. They even have passengers return the seat back to the upright position.