The pilot reported that he was on a return flight back to his home airport. He turned on the Cessna 182’s cabin lights and they seemed a bit dim.
He decided to stop at the airport in Robstown, Texas, and troubleshoot the lighting issue and refuel, so he would have full fuel tanks for the night flight.
He parked the airplane in front of the fuel pump and refueled both wing tanks, before pushing the airplane back. He added that he planned on checking to see if the battery would charge before continuing the flight.
The propeller turned slow and the engine did not start, so he elected to hand prop the airplane.
He said he set the throttle, mixture, and parking brake, and after several attempts the engine started. He added that the engine appeared to be at idle, and then the rpms increased. The airplane moved forward and hit the fuel station’s credit card machine before he could enter and stop the airplane.
An examination of the airplane noted substantial damage to the airframe’s belly/bottom firewall area. Additionally, there was minor damage to the airplane’s cowling, propeller, and nosewheel pant. There was also damage to the fuel pump’s credit card machine and a set of steps.
An inspection of the airplane by an FAA inspector found that the throttle’s friction lock was working, however a check of the airplane’s parking brake found that even after application of the brake, the airplane would move and the brakes did not function as intended. The specific problem with the brakes were not identified.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to set the friction lock on the throttle before hand propping the engine, which allowed the airplane to move forward and hit a credit card machine. Contributing to the accident was the malfunction of the parking brake for reasons that could not be determined.
This December 2019 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 a high risk proposition, and requires strict mitigation of risk to be safe. But it can be done safely, and has been done safely hundreds of times a year, ever since Orville and Wilbur started the first airplane engine over 100 years ago.
Some tips for solo hand propping safely-
First – Throttle setting – an aircraft should start and run with the throttle at idle. Proper priming technique ensures this. Higher settings means more thrust, which increases risk. Starting at idle ensures minimal thrust against what ever method we’re using to hold the aircraft in place. it also means that if there’s a failure and the aircraft ‘escapes’ it’ll be traveling a lot slower.
Next – Brakes – especially parking brakes – don’t trust ’em. Students have set the brakes on aircraft that we then moved by hand. Yes, it felt pretty heavy, but still moved! Chalk BOTH wheels – because an aircraft can pivot on one chalked wheel. In non-electric equipped aircraft, modify a set of chalks by adding some line, enough so that one chalk can be set in front of each wheel, and a tail that can be lead into the cockpit. You then chalk the just the front side of the wheels with that set of chalks, start the aircraft, climb in, and once set, pull the chalks from inside. If they get stuck, give it a little throttle, then idle, the aircraft wheels should rebound off the chalks, hold there with brakes and pull the chalks.
On tailwheel aircraft – keep the tail tied down while starting. Once running at a low idle, and you’re sure things are under control, then you can untie the tail and climb in. Here again, an extra long line, with the right knot, can make that possible from inside the cockpit.
Limit the Run Time – When hand propping – turn off the fuel valve. A great many hand propping accidents involve aircraft running away, and colliding with things, usually expensive or immoveable things. We can mitigate some of this risk by limiting the amount of available fuel. We open the fuel valve, allow the system to fill, prime the engine, then close the valve. This should provide enough fuel to start and enter the aircraft, where you can then turn the valve back on and proceed. If things go bad, the engine will run out of fuel, and stop of it’s own accord, maybe before the aircraft gets across the ramp and into the side of a hanger, or other aircraft. Most aircraft will run at idle for about a minute, more or less, (your mileage may vary) with the valve off. This is easy enough to check, next time you shut down, simply do so by closing the fuel valve, and timing it.
Like every operation in aviation, it requires risk assessment, followed by mitigation of risk, which allows us to perform that operation safely. If we can’t mitigate risk, then the decision is becomes whether the remaining risk is worth it. But that’s an entire topic all by itself.
“Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to set the friction lock on the throttle before hand propping the engine, which allowed the airplane to move forward and hit a credit card machine. Contributing to the accident was the malfunction of the parking brake for reasons that could not be determined.”
Isn’t this backward? If the brakes had been working correctly, then the friction lock issue may not have even been a factor. I say this because I’ve done a full power run-up in a C182 & 182RG using the toe brakes and we didn’t even move.
However, my personal experience with hand brakes (parking) and toe brakes in Cessnas and Pipers — Hand brakes do not hold very long even when they are the only brakes the plane has.
And so with that knowledge, I would have tied the tail to something.
And also, knowing electrical systems, yeah, there were tests that pilot could have done in flight to know if the alternator were working. And run-up tests to know that it is working. So I also concur with other posters about testing the electrical system….
Hand propping is dangerous. But in this case, in hindsight, clearly he should have chocked the nosewheel at a min. I carry a set of chocks in the plane (tidy, light aluminum ones).
This” accident” probably saved this pilot’s live by preventing the ” planned” night cross-country.
Nose wheel airplanes have prop at wrong angle for hand propping. Also the prop in probably installed on the crankshaft CLOCKED for electric starting.
General aircraft maintenance was probably done on the cheap if done at all. PENCIL WHIPPED is the term.
Just because the alternator is showing charge doesn’t mean the battery is holding the charge or the connections can handle starter current draw. Load testing and inspection are in order.
The pilot should have known the park brake won’t hold and a chock is advisable.
Hand propping was the routine starting 0-360 target drones at Beech….but they didn’t have wheels and launched with JATO’s…lol🚀
btw although 14 indicates charger sys working u r not running on batt only until below 12.8 v indicated
My earlier comments were not too clear.
I’ve seen a voltage regulator that was set to 13.0 volts, [ never adjusted correctly], and the pilot was complaining of a ‘weak battery’ , that would barely start the engine, a Cont. O-200. Adjusting the regulator to 14.2 volts corrected the charging problem..
This pilot had replaced the $300 battery twice.!
I gave him a $4 plug-in voltmeter for him to monitor the voltage.
A lead-acid battery will not charge at a voltage of 12.9 volts or lower. So the voltage regulator must be adjusted to about 14 volts, and monitored, in order to charge the battery to 100% state of charge., which is about 13 volts open circuit.
see, https://www.powerstream.com/SLA.htm ‘ minimum voltage’.
Battery capacity is another important factor, which is the amp-hour capacity, which usually decreases with age. A fully discharged battery will have a greatly shortened life, with shedding of material from the plates. If enough material builds up on the bottom of a cell, it will short the cell and the battery is junk. .
plugin volt meters available at sportys and on net for 15$ and they include usb ports for ur ipads
I really don’t understand why after all of the many many reports of hand propping aircraft by yourself people keep doing it. If you really need to hand prop the aircraft get someone who can sit in the airplane and keep the brakes on and pull the throttle back. there has to be someone who could come help.
Brian, I agree.
Then there is the issue of the weak battery. Did he not look at the ammeter to see if there was a discharge, vs a ‘0’ needle befoe he lanaded and shut down the engine ?
A voltmeter is much more useful in seeing the status of the charging system and battery.
A display of 14 vols +/- shows the alternator working. Anything less than that , and the aircraft is running on the battery and it will least 30 minutes, or so, before everything goes ‘dark’.
Pilots need to know how all of the aircraft systems work and understand the indictions, when they are not working properly.
I’ve dealt with new owners and students who weren’t taught how to check systems at start up. If the aircraft has a split master switch (alternator/master), turn on just the master half of the switch, start the engine if able, then watch the ammeter gauge or voltmeter as you push the alternator half of the switch, It will show a jump to the positive side if the charging system is working. This works with separate toggle switches too. Takes 5 seconds to do this.
Brian, Your comment that someone (a PILOT) must be at the controls is right on. In fact it’s kinda “no DUH”. It’s also a stock NTSB and FAA recommendation following about every hand prop accident in the NTSB db. Another stock recommendation is “DO NOT HAND PROP A HIGH POWER ENGINE. ” Instead, hook up a battery charger. If that simple step isn’t successful, get an A&P to check it out. New battery time, perhaps?
FWIW, I view hand propping as an emergency procedure for aircraft with an electrical system. It should be done only where there is no option for A&P help, no means to charge the battery, and no way to get help… i.e. on a back country strip or isolated airport with no services located in the middle of thousands of acres of no cell coverage.
A plane with an electrical system that activates a starter is unairworthy if the battery can’t turn the prop, or if the starter is busted. Why? Because it doesn’t meet it’s type certificate, nor is it “safe to fly”.
“A plane with an electrical system that activates a starter is unairworthy if the battery can’t turn the prop, or if the starter is busted. Why? Because it doesn’t meet it’s type certificate, nor is it “safe to fly” ”
An inaccurate statement there- An electric starter is not on the minimum equipment list, nor is it part of the type certificate of the aircraft. When listed on the Lycoming TCDS it’s optional equipment. So an inoperative starter or electrical system is not a violation of the TCDS.
Unless specifically required for the intended operations, like night flight, Radio communications in controlled airspace, or IFR operations, an dead battery doesn’t render an aircraft immediately unairworthy – if it did the emergency procedure in the POH would state “Land Immediately” or “Land as soon as Possible”. Instead the procedure is “Land as soon as Practical” meaning fly on until you get to an airport with services.
So arguably still ‘Safe to Fly’, but certainly legal to fly – under the right conditions.
Now – the regulation that applies here, as in many other situations – is Careless and Reckless Operation of an Aircraft. IF you’re flying an Aircraft with a known issue, and something happens – you will get cited for “Careless/Reckless Operation”. This is the Catch All regulation that gets applied when ever we do something dumb as pilots that results in an incident.