Watch the loose clothing

[pelmet]

I remember a few years back I was flying a rare and fairly old single engine light aircraft that had a control stick and throttle on the left side. The throttle was a lever that was pointing straight up from the sidewall mounted quadrant when at cruise power.

It didn't have a heater and in the fall, I would wear my nice leather jacket. It made me look cool and it was quite comfortable. Each sleeve at the wrist had a single button at the cuff. When the cuff was buttoned, it was a little tight around the wrist but comfortable. One thing I never really noticed was that when buttoned, there was a gap left in the cuff area. I got a surprise one day when I moved my arm in such a way that it lowered toward the throttle which went into the gap on my sleeve. I only realized this when I moved my arm back and the throttle when toward idle. After that, I made sure to have the jacket sleeve unbuttoned. That is why in the airline world, I always use the short sleeve shirts instead of the long sleeve ones as I have heard of that happening on a jet where I used to work. No point in catching ones sleeve on the thrust lever or reverse thrust lever after typing something in the FMS.

I was reminded of that today when I talked to a friend from overseas and we started discussing about an accident a few years back on a very expensive aircraft. There is a very brief report on it which just mentions a power loss followed by a landing in a field causing a lot of damage. It turned out that the fuel selector had been modified by moving it to a new location on the sidewall down by the floor on the left side. The pilot's pant leg unknowingly got caught on the fuel selector and selected it off(Spitfire by the way).

Just shows that in certain aircraft, you might want to tuck your pant leg into your sock.

[mikesxr]

I have done that on a pc12 before scared the shit out of me!! I realized that my jacket caught the power lever when i was reaching for my lunch didn't even feel it and that power lever is pretty stiff

[lownslow]

Fly safe: fly naked.

[Heliian]

Lol, i can't stop laughing, made my day. You're talking about watching your long sleeve shirt while the pilots up north are all wearing full cold weather gear.

Always watch for any loose articles.

[ahramin]

There was a glider pilot at VSA who called on the radio while on tow saying that his release knob had been stolen. It was hiding under a loose pant leg.

[rigpiggy]

Kind of like wearing bunny boots while flying.....watch the brakes

[PilotDAR]

'Wondered about the complete electrical failure I had last week flying the flying boat. 'Turns out I'd caught the master switch with the pant leg of the immersion suit I was wearing. Once diagnosed, rectification was very easy!

Decades back, I had occasion to meet a pilot who had one of those nice leather flying jackets. His had a funny red round smeared paint mark in the center of the back - I asked him about it. He explained that he'd been standing with his back to has running Champ, he'd just propped it, and turned around. It crept forward unchocked, until the airflow gently pulled him in against the spinner. The spinner rotated in his back, until he could summon someone to turn off the engine. He was later killed attempting aerobatics in a Breezy. I saw a pattern in pilot discipline.

[pelmet]

It can be more than just the loose clothing. What about headset cords. For example, what about that headset cord....or cords from various plug-in items. They can end up tangled around something and then you pull on the cord which is pulling on something else.

Decades back, I had occasion to meet a pilot who had one of those nice leather flying jackets. His had a funny red round smeared paint mark in the center of the back - I asked him about it. He explained that he'd been standing with his back to has running Champ, he'd just propped it, and turned around. It crept forward unchocked, until the airflow gently pulled him in against the spinner. The spinner rotated in his back, until he could summon someone to turn off the engine.

I am not sure that I am ready to believe that any airflow being pulled in from the prop from a champ would be enough to hold you in against it's spinner....but I am not keen to try it as an experiment.

[pelmet]

Lol, i can't stop laughing, made my day. You're talking about watching your long sleeve shirt while the pilots up north are all wearing full cold weather gear.

No laughing matter sometimes. As the title says, Watch the loose clothing. Definitely applicable up north. Rumour had it the the plastic guard over the fuel levers on the Twin Otter was a mod created because the hood on someone’s parka pull both aft when Turning around and getting out of the cockpit……

The Keewatin Air Beech 200 (BE20, registration C-FSKN, serial number BB1109) departed
Taloyoak Airport (CYYH), Nunavut en route to Yellowknife Airport (CYZF), Northwest Territories.
Onboard were 2 crew members and 4 passengers. At approximately 1850 MST, during the
descent into CYZF, through flight level 230, flight crew clothing caught on and activated the
emergency dump switch resulting in the rapid loss of cabin pressure and the dropping of the
aircraft's oxygen masks. The crew subsequently carried out the checklist memory items and then
completed the checklist and conducted an uneventful landing at CYZF. There were no injuries or
damage to the aircraft as a result of the inadvertent selection.
Maintenance follow up: Company maintenance personnel inspected the aircraft and returned it to
service.

[sjatana]

Atlas Air 3591. There were other factors at play here obviously with the crew and the response, or lack thereof, but especially worth noting:

"The probable cause of this accident was the inappropriate response by the first officer as the pilot flying to an inadvertent activation of the go-around mode, which led to his spatial disorientation and nose-down control inputs that placed the airplane in a steep descent from which the crew did not recover."
Rapid Descent and Crash into Water Atlas Air Inc. Flight 3591 Boeing 767-375BCF, N1217A

[Eric Janson]

Atlas Air 3591. There were other factors at play here obviously with the crew and the response, or lack thereof, but especially worth noting:

Those switches are for disconnecting the auto throttle.

The G/A switch located underneath where the watch strap is.

[airway]

Atlas Air 3591. There were other factors at play here obviously with the crew and the response, or lack thereof, but especially worth noting:

Those switches are for disconnecting the auto throttle.

The G/A switch located underneath where the watch strap is.

So, the go around switch is the toggle switch below the power levers, and the auto throttle disconnect is the button on the side of the power levers?

[Eric Janson]

Atlas Air 3591. There were other factors at play here obviously with the crew and the response, or lack thereof, but especially worth noting:

Those switches are for disconnecting the auto throttle.

The G/A switch located underneath where the watch strap is.

So, the go around switch is the toggle switch below the power levers, and the auto throttle disconnect is the button on the side of the power levers?

Yes - the picture is actually correct. I missed it the first time. It is hard to see.

The idea is that your fingers are on the white area of the throttles and you use your thumb to activate the go-around switch.

I've never had an inadvertent go-around selection on the 757/767.