educational incidents applying to air and ground crews. C-124 The Globemaster departed a stateside base on a night cargo mission. Climbout was normal, and the crew settled down for a routine flight as the engineer set up cruise power. Approximately 45 minutes after takeoff, the number one prop began to surge. Correctly suspecting a failing prop brake, the crew feathered number one. They immediately diverted to a nearby Air Force Base. This proved to be a wise decision, as another engine failed and the aileron boost soon quit, too. The crew successfully completed the night, twoengine landing in a heavily loaded aircraft. • Another C-124 took off from an island airport and severe buffeting began almost immediately. The crew tried various power and flap settings with little success. The pilot reported at times the yoke moved back and forth in an eight inch arc! Below 130 knots, the shaking was less severe, so the crew landed as slowly as possible. Inspection revealed one and a half gallons of water trapped in the right elevator flying tab. The tab had been recently recovered, and someone forgot to make drain holes. • A C-124 was sitting on the ramp at an island station waiting to be loaded. It was night, and the airman driving the fork lift didn't have anyone to guide him near the aircraft. The only lighting he used was the one light on the fork lift. Not surprisingly, he drove under the tail and ripped a gash in the bottom of the aircraft. • Another Globemaster was down for maintenance in the Far East. A civilian driving a jeep pulling an A frame drove under the aircraft's left wing. The jeep made it, but the A frame didn't. The result was a mangled aileron for the Shakey. The civilian carefully backed the A frame out of the aileron, and drove off to another aircraft, neglecting to report the damage. The C-130 was being refueled on the ramp of an island station. When the operation was complete, the fuel truck specialist disconnected the hose from the aircraft. While trying to evacuate fuel from the truck's line, fuel suddenly began pouring from the truck to the ground. The truck engine chose this moment to backfire and ignite the spilled fuel. The truck was totally destroyed, and the aircraft was burned on the radome and two props before the fire could be extinguished. A relatively inexpensive fuel filter on the truck had ruptured, causing the near holocaust. The nose gear on the C-130 wouldn't extend. The crew tried everything, finally resorting to cutting the three hydraulic lines to the nose gear (up, down, and uplock). This got the gear almost down. They then secured it in place with a tie-down chain and made a successful landing on a foamed runway. (See Good Show, THE MAC FLYER, November 1966.) Inspection showed the actuating cylinder rod had broken. • The C-130 was practicing pararescue and cargo drops when it was struck by a large bird outboard of number four engine. The crew made a precautionary landing. When they climbed out of the Herc for a look, they saw a dent five inches in diameter in the leading edge of the wing. Another C-130 was climbing through Flight Level 180 when it lost pressurization. The crew made a descent to a safe altitude, then checked to see what had happened. They found the latches on the right side of the ramp were not engaged. After offloading a small amount of cargo during an Ops stop, the loadmaster had failed to make a proper check of the latches. There was no damage so the crew depressurized the Hercules, shut the ramp properly, then repressurized with no further trouble. • Our last C-130 was written up on a postflight inspection as being externally burned around the number one HF antenna. The aircrew was unaware they had been struck by lightning during the previous flight. C-130 • The Hercules had just taken off when the main NESA transformer behind the copilot's head became overheated and caught fire. The crew put out the flames using a hand extinguisher, and returned to the departure base. Investigation showed the transformer had shorted internally, causing the fire. C-133 Crews are well aware of the bird strike hazard, but sometimes a strike is unavoidable. The C-133 lifted off at a high gross weight. Almost simultaneously it struck two birds. One damaged the radome while the other was ingested by the number two engine, which promptly flamed out. The crew jettisoned fuel and made a successful three engine landing. way and shut the engines down. Inspection revealed the left gear pod to be slightly damaged, but the gear itself was unharmed. The horse was not as lucky. This Starlifter was also making a landing approach. When the copilot set the flaps, they locked in the takeoff/approach position. Unable to get full flaps, the crew had to land with them in this intermediate position. The trouble was traced to a flap lockout control malfunction. The C-141 was on a tactical training mission when the number one hydraulic system lost its pressure. The crew aborted the mission, and the aircraft returned to base. Maintenance found the pressure switch on an aileron pack had failed, allowing the hydraulic fluid to escape. On another C-141, the hydraulic reservoir indicated complete loss of fluid. After checking for leaks, the flight crew reserviced it, and the system pressure stayed up, with all indications normal. When the aircraft landed, the right main wheels were locked. The aircraft stayed on the runway, but the tires caught fire. The damage was minor. Investigators found the hydraulic wheel brake valve had failed, allowing pressure to the emergency brake system, locking the wheels. The local training flight was progressing normally until the crew tried to demonstrate manual landing gear extension procedures. They were unable to get a downlock engagement. Futile attempts were made to force the gear over-center using G-forces. The crew finally landed, using normal hydraulic pressure to keep the wheels down. The loss of normal pressure would have resulted in a wheels-up landing. Inspection later showed the left main landing gear shaft assembly to be sprung. Probable cause was improper use of the downlock engaging handle by the flight crew. • After a local touch and go landing the C-141 pilot called for gear up. There was a loud noise and a jolt. The scanner reported hydraulic fluid coming from the right gear pod. They extended the gear using the emergency manual system, and made an uneventful landing. Investigation revealed the right main landing gear actuator had cracked, causing the loss of the number two hydraulic system. A C-141 experienced a lightning strike during an instrument approach to a European destination. As they passed through 6,000 feet, lightning burned an eight inch hole in the radome, damaged the radar antenna, and cracked the copilot's windshield. The startled crew reported the weather at the time of the strike to be no rain, light turbulence, and in and out of clouds. This Starlifter was departing an island station for home when the crew noted a wide difference between the airspeed and altimeters on each side of the cockpit. Assuming the pilot's number one system had malfunctioned, they continued the climb to FL290 using the copilot's system. Then it, too, seemed unreliable, and the number one system seemed correct. The pilot, tiring of this guessing game, requested a chase plane and wisely returned to base for an uneventful landing. Six tablespoons of water were drained from the number two cabin static drain. The static drain line was ruptured, apparently from water that had frozen during the climbout. Research revealed the aircraft had been on the ramp during very heavy rain with no pitot covers installed. • The Starlifter turned inbound from the procedure turn at 3,000 feet in IFR weather conditions. This was a training flight and an IP was in the right seat. Just after they rolled the wings level, the crew caught a glimpse of another aircraft, then felt a slight impact. It turned out to be a civilian pilot in a Cessna 150 flying VFR in IFR conditions. He had filed no flight plan (IFR or VFR), and was in an airport control zone without having called the tower on the radio. The brush with the Starlifter left him without a propeller and forced a deadstick landing. The C-141 suffered a damaged wingtip. How close can you get? C-131 • The C-131 was cruising in VFR conditions when the fuel flow on number two began increasing and the engine began surging. When the pilot tried to manually lean the engine, torque, RPM and fuel flow all fluctuated. He shut the engine down. Carburetor failure was later found to be the cause of the trouble. • Another Samaritan, flying at 7,000 MSL over Europe, was struck by lightning. Their radar hadn't indicated any heavy buildups, and although they were in and out of clouds at the time, the crew reported no heavy shower activity. When they landed, the crew discovered the bolt had neatly removed the cap and the rotating beacon from the vertical stabilizer. C-97 The venerable Stratocruiser had just taken off |