[simpits-chat] Uh Oh Oh

[Allen Buffington]

It's not hard for me to see how this could happen. It was dark out and a moving
propeller is sometimes impossible to see even during daylight hours.

Back in the early 1980's I was working as an aircraft refueler for one of the
local airport FBO's. I had just refueled a twin engine turboprop MU2 which has
the wing above the fuselage. After the pilot had started the engines I walked
around the wing tip and removed the wheel chocks from the main landing gear
wheel and was going to walk back out to the front of the aircraft to visually
show the pilot that I had removed the chocks when suddenly I realized that my
face was within only 18" to 20" from the spinning propeller...Instead of walking
back out to the wing tip to get in front of the plane I simply turned straight
toward the front. My guardian angel was looking out for me that day. I could not
feel any backwash of wind from the propeller because it was fully feathered and
I could not see the propeller due to the high speed RPM's. One more step is all
I would have needed to take and I would not be here writing this. A very close
call and a real eye-opener. I certainly made a greater effort to know where I
was in my surroundings after that.
~~Allen

Rob Hommel wrote:

> Federal reserve employee killed in propeller accident
>
> The Associated Press
> 1/28/03 9:06 AM
>
> CLEVELAND (AP) -- A federal reserve employee was killed early Tuesday when
> he walked into a moving airplane propeller at Burke Lakefront Airport.
>
> The 23-year-old man, whose name was not released, had finished loading a
> twin-engine, high-wing aircraft about 12:30 a.m., then started loading a
> second airplane, airport commissioner Kahlid Bahhur said.
>
> The pilot in the first airplane was given permission to move and started the
> engines, Bahhur said. The worker then returned to the first airplane and ran
> into the propeller.
>
> "We're trying to figure out why he came back to the first airplane," Bahhur
> said.
>
> The Federal Aviation Administration and police were investigating.
>
> This doesn't sound like a good thing
>
> Keep 'em Flying
>
> Rob Hommel
>
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