Huge bummer... Two dead this AM at Hampton Airfield in NH. Early reports say the Skywagon came in for full, gassed up, and headed out. From the bystanders looks like a departure stall after a sudden pitch up. Seat rail perhaps? Never made it past the trees at the end of the runway. Tail # is N6510A. No official report of the identity two souls yet. Sucks-

No real idea at all what happened, but If any Cessna owner has still not gotten the free seatstop kit, please do so...

Thoughts and prayers to the family.


(image taken from Seacostonline.com)

http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/ ... -140909983

From that report, it almost sounds like the seat might have slid back.Sad deal.

Sad to hear.
When ever I fly Cessna's, before I push the throttle in, I grab where the throttle is bolted to the panel, and pull, and try to wiggle the seat. To make sure it's locked in position. And it's also a good idea to have a secondary seat stop as well.

180Marty wrote:From that report, it almost sounds like the seat might have slid back.Sad deal.

So easy to speculate... but thats what I was thinking. I took my Dad the other day in the Wagon. He knows whats going on, but I made sure to reiterate that if he slid back to in no certain terms grab that yoke. Yeah yeah yeah he said, but sometime that move is reflex.

I have the free Cessna secondary seat stop along with an Aerostop for me, but nothing for the co-pilot. I've been thinking of adding the secondary seatstop to the co-pilot seat for a while but been procrastinating. I think I will order it up tomorrow. Just ordered a second Aerostop from Spruce now. http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/a ... atlock.php

Yea I never got around to getting the co-pilot Cessna Secondary Seat Stop installed either, believe I'll make an appointment for that.

And don't forget to periodically test their function. Installed correctly they should keep the seat from moving when the pin is sitting on top of the rail as well, not just while it's in the hole on the rail.

Damn it I'm getting tired of these crashes.

Co pilot side is as important. The first thing anyone is going to grab the handles in front of them. Have you ever had to fight the controls away from someone? It's awful hard to get it back. You have to add it to your pre flight brief, so the pax can get there seat back on there own

I had that happen once. Once in a whole lotta Cessna time, in a seat that I checked, then double checked by the usual rock in place method. It busted loose so fast, and the only thing that saved my dumb ass, was that the hunters I were chartering back to Aniak, had my C206 so stuffed full of crap, my seat could only move about six inches. It was a company airplane, and I didn't bother pulling the lock out of mine. Never again.

You gotta have an alternative seat lock in a Cessna for both pilot and right-seater.

Gump

another testimonial for Maule... our seats only move about 4 inches total...and i've never experienced a sudden seat slide...ever....but we do have sore knees from being so close to the panel.......sorry to hear about that one.. or any loss for that matter...

Tom wrote:Co pilot side is as important. The first thing anyone is going to grab the handles in front of them. Have you ever had to fight the controls away from someone? It's awful hard to get it back. You have to add it to your pre flight brief, so the pax can get there seat back on there own

Excellent point that I hadn't thought of. It will be part of my brief from now on. Wish that Cessna would have covered both seats with the new seat stop. I do have the Safe-T-Stop. Wonder if I shouldn't have it up a little further on the rails though. Sad deal.

You guys might want to look at the Aerostop rather than the Safe-T-Stop. So much easier to use with the long cam arm rather than that silly knob on the Safe-T. Its way easier to reach back and tighten each time. I move it right up against the seat every time I get in as part of my checklist. Impossible to move the seat back.

We always took the passenger side handles out on the 180's. You can brief them not to grab if the seat slides, but half of them will anyway.

Grassstrippilot wrote:I do have the Safe-T-Stop. Wonder if I shouldn't have it up a little further on the rails though. Sad deal.

I believe the Saf-T-Stop calls for setting it 3/4" aft of the seat leg. I figure this is so that if the seat did try to move, you would notice, and could take proper corrective action.

bigrenna wrote:You guys might want to look at the Aerostop rather than the Safe-T-Stop. So much easier to use with the long cam arm rather than that silly knob on the Safe-T.

What is the likelihood of the Aerostop lever getting snagged inadvertently? I have never found the Saf-T-Stop knob to pose any hassles. The main downside to the Saf-T-Stop is that the screw leaves little divots in the seat rail.

Zane's dad produced a nice custom seat stop at one time. I have one of his cosmetic rejects.

Thanks for making me go look this up. I remembered seeing the paperwork for them when I went through all the aircraft records earlier this year. The instructions say to place it 1/4 to 1/2 inch behind the seat.

What's the cost for the new Cessna fix?

bigrenna wrote:You guys might want to look at the Aerostop rather than the Safe-T-Stop. So much easier to use with the long cam arm rather than that silly knob on the Safe-T. Its way easier to reach back and tighten each time. I move it right up against the seat every time I get in as part of my checklist. Impossible to move the seat back.

I have a safe-T-stop and find it very easy to use. Get in, move my seat up, reach down and slide it against the seat leg and tighten. Takes very little time or thought to do.

Shortly after I purchased my 185 the last remaining roll pin for the seat back broke -on takeoff of course. So if you haven't already replaced them please pull both front seats and do it -there are a bunch, especially if you have an articulating seat. Most of mine were broken.

Tom wrote:Co pilot side is as important. The first thing anyone is going to grab the handles in front of them. Have you ever had to fight the controls away from someone? It's awful hard to get it back. You have to add it to your pre flight brief, so the pax can get there seat back on there own

A friend of mine out of Dillingham prt 135 carries a small 25 cal pistol in his left pocket...for the right seat passenger that won't let loose

Both were experienced pilots. Both seat stops failed? I doubt it.

I would be interested in knowing what the weight and balance was. Maybe a load shift.

Or control lock?

A Skywagon that is trimmed correctly can be controlled. A Skywagon out of trim is a deadly killer on takeoff. It is absolutely a must to be aware of the horizontal stabilizer position prior to takeoff or on a go-around. My guess is that with 2 people up front, they landed with full aft trim. Then they forgot to roll the trim the 20 rolls forward it takes to move into the Take Off position. Upon application of full power, the plane started flying and pitched up before they figured it out.

Maybe with all the pushing forward on the yoke, the seat did ultimately slide back. But I'm still thinking that the trim had something to do with it. This is because I'm always worried about the trim killing me.