John,
Thank you for the full and informative description. I guess
we are all very glad that the damage to the Instructor and
his pupil was not even more serious.
Regarding your last point: Emergency numbers. At our club
about a year ago, we had a visit from the local police who
were seeking all the necessary information about who to call
in the event of an emergency on the airfield. They were
building a database, so that when a call to 000 was
received, the full set of notifications would happen
automatically. Thus we only have to remember to call 000.
We have a "Blue Phone" in the club house the cost of which
was justified by its availablity for emergencies. We charge
high fees to use it for normal outward calls (60c per unit),
but 000 calls are free, so one doesn't have to find coins
for an emergency.
Cheers, John G.
John Giddy
5/287 Barkers Rd
Kew, Vic. 3101
Australia
----- Original Message -----
From: John Welsh <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Sunday, June 10, 2001 11:09 PM
Subject: [aus-soaring] Beverley accident report
| The following details of the accident have been approved
for release by
| the Beverley CFI and the RTO(OPS)WA in the interests of
safety:
|
| The accident occurred on the 16/4/2001 at Beverley
Airfield at 11:30
| WST. Blanik L23 VH-ZBZ was being towed by PA25 VH-BMF off
Runway 34. The
| flight was a back seat check flight with the checkee
flying the glider
| from the rear seat and an instructor in the front. At
around two hundred
| feet, the instructor asked where the checkee would go if
the rope broke.
| While the checkee was distracted with this the glider went
out
| of station; the instructor cued the checkee to recover
position, but
| while attempting this, the weak link broke at about 250
feet. The rope
| fell over the glider fuselage and wings, remaining there
in spite of
| being released by the instructor, who took over
immediately and
| manoeuvered the glider to land in the adjoining paddock to
the
| north-west of the field. Unfortunately, in the stress of
the moment, the
| crew didn't see the north-south power lines leading to the
club-house
| and caught them on the starboard lower dive brake and
tailwheel. The
| aircraft lost speed rapidly and rotated about the wires,
striking the
| nose under the front seat very hard on the paddock.
| The aircraft was then dragged backwards 7 metres by the
wires, which did
| not break. In spite of the instructor being in
considerable back pain,
| both pilots vacated the aircraft immediately, in fear of
electric shock
| from the intact wires, however, the pole breakers had
tripped on
| contact, though a scorch mark is evident from wire
contact point around
| the dive brake area. Extensive damage to the wings and
fuselage was
| visually evident (now confirmed as a write-off). Club
members arriving
| at the scene found the instructor lying on his back to
relieve the pain,
| and the other pilot seemingly unhurt. On first report of
the accident
| from an airborne relay, the duty instructor had summonsed
the ambulance
| and police using a CDMA phone from a glider on the flight
line, so
| emergency services were in attendance within 10 minutes.
Both pilots
| were taken to the local hospital for assessment, the back
seat pilot was
| allowed home,
| whilst the instructor was transferred to Perth. It was
determined that
| he has suffered a fracture of one lower vertebra, is
convalescing well,
| but still in a brace for a couple of weeks.
|
| Lessons learned as discussed at the Beverley Instructors
Panel.
|
| Instructors:
| (1) When questioning students on "where to go" make sure
correct tow
| station is maintained.
| All Pilots:
| (2) Know your club glider's straight ahead full dive brake
performance
| - practice it on approach crossing the fence around 250
feet then see
| how much distance from the fence to end of roll
| (3) Consider what effect a tangled rope has on glide
performance
| (4) Do you really know what's in your home field's
emergency paddocks
| - organise paddock inspections as part of the day's
briefing
| - make a map for the clubhouse showing landable areas &
obstacles
| (5) Weak links do do their job (the instructor was "not
surprised" that
| it broke). The weak link rope was professionally tested
and it was of
| sufficient strength.
| (6) Does your field have any Non-Manoeuvring Areas even if
you are
| aerotowing?
| (7) In low wind days, consider moving back your launching
point to
| increase your straight ahead options.
| (8) O for Options in the pre-flight check is VITAL, don't
let anyone
| gloss over it.
| (9) Consider ball marking any power lines in the vicinity
of your
| emergency fields
| (10)If fixed phones cannot be installed at launch points,
consider
| purchase of a CDMA phone for the pie-cart for emergency
use. Have an
| emergency phone list available fixed in the piecart.
|
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