Oh, that sheds some light on what happened. (get it?)

That's just real funny when 2 people lost their life in that accident..........

I'm sure Hotrod meant nothing by that comment. All people grieve,express sorrow or handle bad situations in a different way. Sometimes humor that doesn't seem right to some....keeps others sane....or as sane as we can be. So we should not be so quick to judge.

So are we to believe that somehow the flashlight jammed the controls?

Pat

A local mechanic was replacing a forward portion of a wing skin on a 172 (bird strike) about 12 years ago and and found a 1/2" spanner inside the wing. Probably been there since new.

Tim

Flew home from an annual one time only to have the shop owner call to ask if I had discovered his buzz box under my cowl. Told him if it had been there, it was somewhere on the Tanana Flats now. I've learned to appreciate brightly colored tools.

(Not naming names...)

-DP

On the other hand, I do have a nice Snap-On ratchet that we found under the hood of a truck that was out for servicing
Figured out why the hood wasn't closing properly at the same time

The take-home lesson for me is to do an EXTRA special preflight after any maintenance. And I'm the guy with the reputation for grounding aeroplanes, just by LOOKING at them. Guess I look too hard for some folks taste, but not my own.

And a few years ago, I became the owner of an orange-handle Snap-On ratcheting screwdriver, which has been the most-used tool in my bag ever since. Dagnabbit EXTRA special preflight.... The likely previous owner has seen it in my hands many times and hasn't said a word. One of TWO snappy tools I own....

Thanks. cubscout

I lost a good friend, and good pilot April 1999 in Kotzebue. Took off in a C185 on a crap weather day for a post annual flight. Made a short ways out of town, called out one "Mayday," then nothing. Found the wreckage a short time later. Investigation found a screwdriver in the wing jamming the ailerons. Good weather he'd a been fine, and could have cross-controlled home. White-out day... Whacked the ground.

Gump

I bought my 172 at the end of 07, in 08 when I took off all the inspection plates and was cleaning out under the floor, I found some rusty Vise Grips down behind the rudder pedals. Never cause problems but could have.

Helped a guy out recently that did an precautionary landing on the local airfield when his O300 (on a 172) dropped his #1 exhaust valve through the piston.

When the mechanic removed the cowling he found a stubby screw driver wedged between two of the cylinders. The plastic handle melted into the cooling fins. That wasn't a cause of the failure but it really made us think if it may have been an indication of a less-than-thorough annual that should have caught a failing valve on a 500-hour engine.

In the military we have strict tool control and every maintenance action has at least one extra set of inspection eyes on the work for proper procedures and FOD. This is generally not practical in the private plane world, but then that demands that we do a very thorough post-maintenance inspection on everything the mechanic touched.

cubscout wrote:The take-home lesson for me is to do an EXTRA special preflight after any maintenance.
Thanks. cubscout

Same here. Especially after the above episode with the buzz-box, and another where a flap bushing was improperly installed during an annual inspection. Couldn't lower the flaps during preflight. Funny thing is, I'd have thought that shop would have been falling all over itself to apologize, but not so

-DP

Let me see......

Found a bucking bar in the leading edge skin of a Pawnee..
Found a 1/2 inch wrench just under the elevator control horn under the floor boards of a Maule..
Screwdriver in the tail section of a Cessna..

Those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head......

Brian.

And the list goes on...

A friend was at Cessna to take possession of a new CJ3, and during the purchase inspection found a wrench in a wing. One would think that Cessna would pay a few extra bucks to have an extra-special final done before pickup by the new owner, especially when dealing with a $10 million dollar airplane.

Guess a buck is a buck...

Gump

And yet another reason alot of us have experimentals.. Doing our own mechanical work controls the 'lost tool' syndrome.

I believe this is the accident that the press was blaming "sport aircraft" as being inferior or poorly regulated. They should retract their stories.

Bugs66 wrote: They should retract their stories.

First they would have to admit they are human. Everybody has some sort of agenda. The press can just get it out to more folks.

Tim

I forwarded this on to our safety folks so that others can learn about the importance of keeping track of items when working around airplanes. Condolences to the family.

My dad found a rivet gun in the wing of a brand new F-100 back in the day and I have gotten a lot of use from it, so sometimes FOD is a good thing!
Dale