The United States Parachute Association (USPA) designates the second Saturday in March of every year to be its Safety Day and this year that happens to be on March 12th. Many of the skydivers are a little rusty from not jumping much (if at all) during the Winter months and is why it is held at this time of the year. Started in 1997, it is the day that all of the USPA drop zones around the country gather up their employees and skydivers to review safety issues in a group setting.
If this will be your first Safety Day at your DZ as a Jump Pilot, be sure and ask your DZO if it will be okay if you can speak at the general meeting. Be sure and write down at least an outline of items that you want to speak about. Things that you want your Skydivers, Manifest and Ground Crew to know or be reminded of.
As pilots we are taught that safety is priority #1, so do not simply stand up and say a couple words. Take advantage of the fact that you have everyone's attention on the topic of safety. Personally, the main topics that I always talk about are: Weight & Balance, Safety Belts, Emergency Procedures and Prop Awareness during hot fueling, just to name a few.
Remind the skydivers of the various emergencies than can happen IN an airplane. Explain what your actions as PIC will be in response to each emergency and what you want them to do (or not to do) ie. If there is an engine failure at 500ft AGL, they are not to be tapping you on the shoulder asking if they can jump out. Also, insure that the Aircraft Emergency Procedures are posted at your DZ so that all skydivers are aware of them.
The only problem with Safety Day is that it's only one day a year. If I owned a drop zone, we would have safety meetings once a month. Even if it was simply a 15 minute safety review on a Saturday morning. But I don't plan on owning a DZ.... I'm not a good babysitter.
My fellow Jump Pilots, please remember to review often and fly safe, so that you can continue to have fun!
As always, if you have any questions or comments please email me chris@caravannation.com and please visit our sites skydiverdriver.com and caravannation.com
~ Chris Rosenfelt
A year ago today the Grand Caravan pictured above operated by Grant Aviation crashed during its takeoff phase of flight in Alaska. Although N208SM did not experience an engine failure, I thought that today would be as good a day as any to review the Emergency Procedures for Engine Failure Immediately After Takeoff for Cessna Model 208B (675 SHP).
Us as pilots know, the worst time to experience an engine failure is during the takeoff phase of flight. This situation is also when pilots can have the least amount of time to react and usually seem to make the worst decisions. Including making the ill-advised decision to turn back towards the airport when they are too low to the ground. Forgetting simple Private Pilot 101 lessons of Aerodynamic Forces in Flight Maneuvers. Their fear induced large bank angle, to get them back to the airport, results in a large reduction in airspeed further resulting in a stall and crash.
Another reason that I would like to review this emergency procedure is because as a Skydive Pilot I realize that at this time of year there are a lot of new Caravan Pilots. Skydivers jump year round in most parts of the world, however a considerably larger amount of skydiving is done during the Summer months. A new season usually equals new Caravan pilots. As you might have read in some of my past articles, most of the Jump Pilot hiring is done during the month of April (in the Northern Hemisphere) and that is done to get them ready for the busy Summer months.
Please remember that these Emergency Procedures found below are for the Cessna Model 208B (675 SHP) and no others. If you are flying a different model Caravan, please review your aircraft's FAA approved Abbreviated Checklist or Airplane Flight Manual for that specific model.
As stated in the Pilots' Abbreviated Checklist published by Cessna, here are the procedures for:
Engine Failure Immediately After Takeoff
- Airspeed - 85 KIAS with 20 DEGREES FLAPS
- Propeller - FEATHER
- Wing Flaps - FULL DOWN
- Fuel Condition Lever - CUTOFF
- Fuel Shutoff - OFF (pull out)
- Fuel Tank Selectors - OFF (warning horn will sound)
- Battery - OFF
If you have finished the above procedures and have double checked them all and you still have altitude (time) you should proceed with the Emergency Landing Without Engine Power procedures found in your aircraft's FAA approved Abbreviated Checklist or Airplane Flight Manual.
My fellow Caravan Pilots, please remember to review often, fly safe so that you can continue to have fun!
The United States Parachute Association (USPA) designates the second Saturday in March of every year to be its Safety Day and this year that happens to be on March 14th. Started in 1997, it is the day that all of the USPA drop zones around the country gather up their employees and skydivers to review safety issues.
Many of the skydivers are a little rusty from not jumping much (if at all) during the Winter months and is why it is held at this time of year. The only problem with Safety Day is that it's only one day a year. If I owned a drop zone we would have safety meetings every month. Even if it was simply a 15 minute safety review on a Saturday morning.
If this will be your first Safety Day at your DZ as a Jump Pilot, be sure and ask your DZO if it will be okay if you can speak at the general meeting. Be sure and write down at least an outline of items that you want your Skydivers, Manifest and Ground Crew to know or be reminded of. As pilots we are taught that safety is #1, so do not simply stand up and say a couple words. Take advantage of the fact that you have everyone's attention on the topic of safety. Personally, I usually talk about Weight & Balance, Safety Belts, Emergency Procedures and Prop Awareness during hot fueling, to name a few.
One of the most important things to remind your skydivers of, is what you as Pilot in Command will DEMAND of them in the event of an emergency. I personally demand that they remain calm (or try), do not tap me on the shoulder to ask silly questions (usually to ask if they can jump) and NO ONE touches that door unless I say so.
If a s skydiver ever opened the door and jumped out during an emergency situation without my approval, I would have them grounded for a weekend. If the DZO disagrees with my punishment for them, then he/she can find another pilot for that weekend. Luckily I have only had to discipline a couple skydivers over the years. They all ended up thanking me for giving them a "time out" and they ended up respecting me more as their pilot.
