The pilot reported that the battery was too low to start the Cirrus SR22’s engine, so he asked FBO personnel at the airport in Mason City, Iowa, if they could assist with a jumper pack.
They told him that they did not have anyone on duty authorized to assist and that he would have to wait a couple of days. He decided to start the engine by hand propping.
Before he began hand propping, he set the parking brake. Following the engine start, the airplane began to move forward.
The pilot attempted to re-enter the airplane to apply the brakes, but the airplane hit a hangar.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing.
The FAA inspector who examined the airplane after the accident reported that the parking brake functioned normally.
He added that the pilot stated that he was sure he set the brakes, but that he may not have gotten enough pressure to hold the airplane.
The FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook, FAA-H-8083-3A, contains a section titled “Hand Propping” which states the following: An engine should not be hand propped unless two people, both familiar with the airplane and hand propping techniques, are available to perform the procedure. The person pulling the propeller blades through directs all activity and is in charge of the procedure. The other person, thoroughly familiar with the controls, must be seated in the airplane with the brakes set. As an additional precaution, chocks may be placed in front of the main wheels. If this is not feasible, the airplane’s tail may be securely tied. Never allow a person unfamiliar with the controls to occupy the pilot’s seat when hand propping. The procedure should never be attempted alone.
Probable cause: The pilot’s improper hand propping procedure, which resulted in a runaway airplane and subsequent impact with a hangar.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA545
This September 2018 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Hand propping is not something one should do without a little training. Big engines like in a Cirrus (or even a 182’s 470 or 540) are really difficult, and tricycle gear aircraft are more difficult than tail draggers. But any of them can be done safely. While the AIM is perhaps overly conservative, its advice is certainly good.
For most larger engine airplanes, a jump start with the appropriate cables and voltage is the better practice. Our batteries in GA aircraft are really small, so it’s not unusual for them to be taxed excessively, especially in cold weather. IMHO, every airplane should have an APU receptacle to make it easier to do a jump. It’s pretty easy with 12v systems—any car or pickup will do. 24v systems need a 24v power source, which is a little more problematic. Caution: many FBOs have power carts with both voltages, so it’s important that the pilot insure that the rampy selects the proper voltage. Using a 24v output on a 12v airplane can lead to expensive damage.
If the battery was depleted it very possibly didn’t have juice to run all of the high demand systems on that aircraft. Would it have charged sufficiently to be ‘safe to fly’ had the hand prop been successful? Maybe. But the aircraft was not, by any stretch of the rules, “airworthy”. It didn’t meet its type certificate with the dead battery, and it was NOT safe to fly. Had anyone been injured, or worse, killed the pilot would have been faced with some really serious legal problems. Where was SAAVY Maintenance when he needed it? Cheap insurance!
A continental IO-550 is a big 310HP engine. Hand proving it is difficult at best…..It is dangerous!
A dead battery has to be removed and charged. No FBO can assist in hand proping an aircraft. It could cause and accident, making the FBO libel !
This business of FBO personnel appear to be lazy and I would not do bus with them.
Blaming the FBO is pathetic. It is 100% the pilots fault and 100% avoidable. There are many other options and the pilot chose to do this by himself.
He should have pulled the chute to slow it down. Yeah that’s the ticket.
Would that be North Iowa Air Service?
Or should it be No Service?
I’ve owned seven airplanes that did not have starters, and rare were the occasions when I had someone available to help me start them when I wanted to go flying. But I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER had an airplane get away from me because I always took 15 seconds out of my busy schedule and tied the tail down before each start. Guaranteed to work every time you accidentally leave the throttle a bit forward. Again, please, please tie the tail down.
Never hand prop a Cirrus, especially an SR22 or SR22T. The big 300/315hp TSIO 550 and associated large Hartzel prop is too much power and prop to manage if you are not at the controls INSIDE the cockpit.
If you own a Cirrus you should either have a BatteryMINDer Aviation Battery Charger/Maintainer (24 volt), or a START PAC® Portable Power Supply model 53025-24/28V to be used when running avionics on the ground and the engine off or can be used to start the plane if the main battery is LOW but not totally exhausted.
An accident that could have ben prevented with a little common sense!
AT LEAST TIE THE TAIL DOWN>>>>>
The 1st question is why is the battery at a low state of charge ? Did he leave the master on ? Or is the battery old and will no longer hold a sufficient charge ?
It is never a good idea to hand prop an engine with a low / dead battery.
A better idea is to remove the battery and connect a proper charger. But that would take 8-10 hours; and then, be sure that is airworthy and has its rated amp-hour capacity.
If hand proping, once the engine starts, the alternator will be recharging the battery at it max rate, maybe 50-60 amps, which is not good for the alternator or the battery.
Flying an aircraft, especially one with electric instruments, with a low battery, is at risk of electrical failure if the battery won’t charge and the alternator goes off-line. Now the pilot has only back up instruments and no radios.
All correct. What you should have added is that a new battery every few years is cheap insurance against experiencing problems while away from home base.
A couple of days to find someone to “operate a jump pack”? That’s just pathetic service. Shame on the FBO for not getting on the ball and helping this guy out. It was a mistake to hand prop this airplane alone, but I can see how the FBO’s lack of competence would lead to someone trying that.
Really!!
One place that i will probably never visit or buy fuel from. I mean come on, nobody to plug in a charger or to let the owner do it himself.
Way back in my collage days I worked at an FBO that had a unique solution to providing jump starts. The fuel truck was modified with a Piper style ground power receptacle in the front bumper connected to the electrical system. To mate with that we had jumper cables for both types of aircraft connectors modified with the proper mating connector for the fuel truck at the other end. If anyone needed a jump start and had a receptacle (12 volts only) it was a simple matter to get power to them. That feature proved very handy in colder weather when aircraft tended to have trouble getting started in the morning. That is a simple modification that almost any FBO could do but it would not help in this case since it would not provide the 24 volts the Cirrus needed.