It's Always Best to Blame Someone Else.

Watch this video and see if this helicopter does anything but climb straight up into the open hangar door. See if you notice it moving away from the hangar. See if you notice it drift towards the hangar. Yeah, the NTSB didn't see that either.

If you're flying with this guy, go ahead and panic!

CHI04LA212

On August 5, 2004, at 1200 central daylight time, a Robinson R44, N7036J, piloted by a commercial pilot, was substantially damaged when the main rotor contacted an open hangar door during takeoff and the helicopter subsequently impacted the ground at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (SUS), Chesterfield, Missouri. The flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 and was not on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The pilot and 2 passengers reported no injuries. A third passenger reported minor injuries. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.

In his written statement, the pilot reported that the flight was to be a local sightseeing flight for the 3 passengers. He added that the left side flight controls had been removed. The pilot stated that the helicopter was parked on the ramp approximately 35 feet from the hangar. He reported that the bi-fold hangar door was open and extended about 10 feet out over the ramp.

The pilot stated that after completing the normal start-up and pre-flight procedures, he established that the area was clear and picked up into a 6 - 8 foot hover. He reported that he began to move away from the hangar. He stated that as he did so the passenger in the left front seat turned to his right and "accidentally and inadvertently hit or bumped the counterweight portion of the cyclic as he turned."

The pilot stated that the helicopter drifted toward the open hangar door and before he could correct the drift the main rotor clipped the bottom edge of the door. He recalled: "I quickly maneuvered away from the hangar building and began to level the aircraft." The helicopter descended to the ramp. The subsequent hard landing caused the skids to collapse and the main rotor to sever the tail boom.

A ground witness to the accident submitted a video recording of the accident flight. Review of the recording revealed that after the helicopter lifted-off, it paused in a hover for a few seconds and then began to climb out, subsequently contacting the door. No drift toward the hangar building was observed prior to rotor blade contact with the door.

Missing wing tip causes passenger revolt

11/04/07 The Daily Mail said Saturday that seven SriLankan Airlines customers
demanded they be allowed to exit the aircraft while it was at the British
airport after they learned it was missing a 5-foot wing tip.

Why do people think that the crew of an airplane would put themselves at risk? What possible motive could they have do something like this? Could it possibly be that the flight crew knows more about flying then the passengers? Can it be that flying an airplane with missing parts is possible and maybe even safe?

















Here's a fine example of just such a thing.

But back to the original story of a missing wingtip. There exists in the world of aircraft a document known as the Configuration Deviation List (CDL). This approved document lists those items of the aircraft that can be missing. The following is a quote from the CDL for the A320. (I don't have access to an A340 CDL but suspect that it is very similar to this one)

One complete wing tip fence may be missing provided:
a) Exposed interior structure is covered with high speed tape,
b) The following performance penalties are observed:
1) Takeoff and approach climb limiting weight is reduced by 4%.
2) Fuel consumption is increased by 1.4%.
c) Wing tip fence is replaced at the earliest maintenance opportunity and mean while, protective material must be inspected before every flight and replaced if necessary, and
d) The one engine inoperative net ceiling is reduced by 300 feet.

As you can see, by making a few allowances in performance calculations, it's perfectly normal and safe to fly the airplane with a missing wingtip.

One other thing...

This picture is floating about the internet allegedly showing the damage to the A-340's wingtip, there's just one problem. The circled items in this picture belong to the British Airways 747 in the background.

So please, everyone relax and don't panic!