Pilots must be aware on the ground, too
It all began with a flight in a Cessna 172 from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Vinton, Iowa. I had made several flights like this to visit my son and his family, who lived in Vinton at the time. The flight was routine with light winds, blue skies, and unlimited visibility. It's hard to picture that such a good day for flying could turn sour, but that is the way the afternoon ended.
After arriving at Vinton and visiting for a couple hours, I found that several family members wanted to go for an airplane ride--especially my grandson, who had just turned 6. He had flown with me before, and he loved it. This time he even had the opportunity to handle the controls himself, and he felt quite proud after I complimented him for doing a good job keeping the airplane straight and level. He was having so much fun I didn't tell him that the autopilot was on.
After flying around the Vinton and Cedar Rapids area for about an hour, I decided that it was time to head back to Council Bluffs, so I returned to Vinton Veterans Memorial Airpark to drop off my passengers. After landing, I taxied the airplane to the ramp and turned off the engine. I wanted to take on a few gallons of gas before I started back to Council Bluffs; but another airplane was fueling up, so I waited until it had finished and moved away from the pumps.
I've always stressed to my passengers the importance of being cautious when around an airplane until it is shut down, because it can be unsafe. So my grandson patiently waited until I went through my after-landing checklist, and shut down the engine. I then told him that he could take off his seatbelt and climb out of the Cessna. He couldn't wait to get out and tell his dad that he was flying the airplane, an experience that thrilled him.
After the other aircraft pulled away from the pumps I decided to push my airplane to the gas pump, because it was only 50 feet away. My grandson was excited and moving all around the airplane, wanting to help out. My son and I took up positions on either side of the airplane, I on the left side and he on the right. As we began to push against the struts to move the Cessna, I noticed my grandson at my side pushing as hard as he could. I didn't realize until the airplane came to a sudden stop, and I heard a loud scream coming from my grandson, how easy it is to get in front of the wheel while pushing a 172 by the struts. But that is what happened when we started moving the airplane and my grandson's stride extended. Instead of pushing straight back his leg went a little to the side and was caught under the wheel, running over his heel and foot, breaking it in several places.
My grandson's pain didn't last long. After a cast was put on his lower leg and foot, and once his teacher and friends found out that his foot indeed had been run over by an airplane, he took pride in wearing the cast. A couple weeks later when I saw him again he showed me the cast, which was covered with names of his friends, and he told me that the next time he was "going to be more careful"--something that I should have been.
This was a bizarre accident. As pilot in command, however, if I had been more alert to what was taking place while we were moving the airplane and vigilant to the unpredictability of a 6-year-old boy, I probably could have prevented this accident. This event demonstrates that one's duty as PIC doesn't end just because you've shut down the engine. Situational awareness should always be a part of your plan, before and after the flight as well as in the air.
"Learning Experiences" is presented to enhance safety by providing a forum for students and pilots to learn from the experiences of others. It is intended to provoke thought and discussion, acknowledging that actions taken by the authors were not necessarily the best choices under the circumstances. We encourage you to discuss any questions you have about a particular scenario with your flight instructor.
Related Articles
