Flight Training - June 2015 - 50

ADVANCED PILOT»

CAREER ADVISOR

ASEL entrepreneur
What can he do with his Cessna 210?

» Q: I am not like the average guy or gal
who wants to work for some airline or
corporate flight department. I have my
own Internet consulting business, and
I also have a Cessna 210. I was thinking about starting an air tour enterprise
out here in the Rockies or maybe a Part
135 charter operation. Do you have any
thoughts on these ideas?-Jackson from
Pueblo

» A: Jackson, I am firmly in alignment

ACCIDENT ANALYSIS

The wrong stuff

Watch what goes in your airplane
» By David Jack Kenny

THE FINDINGS WON'T be official for
some time-but it seems clear that after
two decades without a fatal misfueling
accident, we've just seen two within a
year. On February 22, 2015, a Canadianregistered Piper PA-46-350P crashed
just after takeoff from Felts Field Airport
in Spokane, Washington. Investigators
quickly determined that it had been "serviced" with 52 gallons of jet fuel. The solo
pilot was the only victim. And on August
27, 2014, four died when a Cessna 421C
air ambulance ran out of altitude while
trying to turn back to the airport at Las
Cruces, New Mexico: the pilot, a nurse,
a paramedic, and the cancer patient they
were trying to transport.
It's not known whether the Malibu
pilot filled the tanks (Felts has self-serve
for both jet fuel and avgas) or had it done
by the line crew. However, the preliminary report on the twin Cessna accident
states that the pilot stayed in the cockpit
while a lineman put 20 gallons of Jet-A
into each main tank, then helped him
secure the fuel caps, and walked into the
office to sign the sales ticket. Apparently
he never noticed the lettering on the
truck, the smell of the stuff dispensed, or
the receipt's description of goods sold.
Both these models are particularly
vulnerable to misfueling-the Malibu

50 /

FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG

because it's built in both piston and turbine versions, and the Cessna because of
its resemblance to the Conquest series of
turboprops. The last previous misfueling
accident (in 2009) and the most recent
fatal example (in 1994) both involved
421Cs. "Fishtail" jet fuel nozzles that
won't fit into 100LL filler ports haven't
completely solved the problem, and the
Las Cruces accident shows that the firstline defense of keeping an eye on the line
crew only works if you pay attention to
what you see.
There's a good case to be made for
sampling the fuel every time any is added,
even when there's no question of water
contamination. Pumping from the wrong
truck is only one of the ways jet fuel can
get into a piston engine. A delivery driver
could replenish the wrong tank at the
fuel farm, or the FBO could goof while
restocking its truck. Mistakes can even
be made at the refinery. All these have
actually happened. Granted, the chances
that any will happen to you are slim-but
the severity of the consequences might
be enough to justify spending that extra
couple of minutes.
AOPA Air Safety Institute statistician David
Jack Kenny has firsthand experience with at
least one of these scenarios.

with your goal of aviation self-employment. I have owned a 1980 Cessna Turbo
182RG since 1982 and have used it in some
creative ways, all legal.
Believe it or not, I used to tow banners
with it. Crazy idea! But when a client
needed a banner towed over a concert
200 miles away, I did not spend four
hours put-put-putting there in a Citabria;
I cruised on over at 145 knots and carried
the banner at 55 to 60 knots over the site.
If you plan to carry passengers, things
can get complicated.
I recall when I owned a Cherokee 140
while in college. I had this great idea to
post flyers around campus stating, "Need
a ride home next weekend to drop off
laundry at mom's house? If you need to
get to 200 miles or less, let me fly you in
my Piper airplane!" Any FAA inspector
reading this is probably gasping for air
right now. Little did I know back then that
I needed an air carrier certificate issued
under FAR Part 135. Thankfully, nobody
ever took me up on the idea (too costly
for the average collegian), and I think the
statute of limitations has expired for holding out to the public without an air carrier
certificate in 1966.
More than a handful of airplane owners have toyed with offering scenic flights
by airplane, and some have even become
mildly successful. What could be simpler? Build a website; connect with resort
and hotel concierge personnel; print up
some rack brochures; off you go. Slip
some patrons into a single-engine air-
http://FLIGHTTRAINING.AOPA.ORG
Flight Training - June 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - June 2015
