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Flying Units,
Please ensure the following
safety information regarding
circut breakers is
incorporated into your next
safety briefing. "CIRCUT
BREAKERS" should be
recorded in your WMU topic
to record completion. Please
complete NLT 11 April 2010.-
Jason
McClaren, 1Lt, CAP
Director of Safety
Texas
Wing -
Civil Air Patrol
903.330.1083 (cell)
Accidents
hurt -- safety doesn't.
Hello all,
If you will recall, the FAA
issued a Special
Airworthiness Information
Bulletin in December
advising pilots that if a
circuit breaker pops during
flight, to reset it only
once and if it comes back
out, to leave it alone
for the remainder of the
flight because of the
potential for electrical
fires. In the latest
edition of "Light Plane
Maintenance", this
problem was
discussed about a fatal
crash. It highlights a
December 23 flight in which
on the day before the
accident, a pilot had a
weather radar failure and
manually pulled the related
circuit breaker. The
burning smell went away
according to the pilot's
entry in the airplane's
maintenance discrepancy
binder. The pilot
continued the flight with
the circuit breaker pulled
for
another hour. The next
day it is likely the next
pilots reset the weather
radar C/B, restoring power
to the weather radar system
wiring. This is
consistent with routine or
the "Before Starting
Engines" checklist.
Then 10
minutes after takeoff, they
announced a problem and
crashed about two
minutes later. The
NTSB determined that the
most likely failure was from
the weather radar and its
associated wiring, which
would be possible only if
that crew reset the weather
radar circuit breaker.
In the accident
airplane, we do not know if
the circuit breaker tripped
again but, if it
did, it was after an
uncontrollable fire was
started.
Since we have different
pilots flying on separate
occasions in CAP
operations, it would behoove
us to caution all pilots in
the Arkansas Wing
against merely resetting a
circuit breaker as part of
our preflight checks
without a careful
examination of the online
discrepancy log in WIMRS for
that aircraft prior to
undertaking the flight.
Also, if a circuit breaker
trips while on a flight, it
is vitally important for the
pilot in command to
report this occurrence to
the aircraft maintenance
officer immediately upon
landing so that the problem
can be corrected before the
next scheduled
flight. It could be a
matter of LIFE OR DEATH for
the next crew.
I would ask that all unit
safety officers include this
subject in their next
safety briefing and ensure
that all pilots in the unit
are personally made
aware of this policy.
Doug Wood
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