Narrative:

Flight local at los lunas, NM, jul/xa/04. Was my first flight for MEL training. Instructor was referred to me and was experienced in the aviation business. Instructor indicated he would likely lose his medical in october and was about 80 yrs old. I did not check the instructor's pilot, medical, or instructional credentials prior to departure. I did not check maintenance logbooks on aircraft. Also, aircraft did not have proper dual controls -- no brakes on right side rudder controls. In spite of the fact he owned the aircraft, the instructor was unable to name the yr of the aircraft, or explain how to operate some of the navigation equipment. It is estimated the aircraft is a 1957 piper apache. However, aircraft did have recent engine overhauls, propeller governor, and propellers replaced. Only 1 radio and VOR was functioning. Instructional flight was VFR and consisted of 3 lndgs at 2 airports. Aircraft was old, but in decent condition for its age. Instructor indicated his eyesight was failing, but I took his word that he could fly the aircraft ok. Flight was uneventful. Flight from XXX to mhk jul/tue/04. Flight was filed IFR under instructor's name as PIC. Purpose of flight was transit to YYY with MEL instructor in right seat and student in left seat, plus a second student in the rear seat. Departure time was XA00 and still dark. No log of VOR checks was found. Instructor insisted upon departure when it was determined navigation lights inoperative. Beacon was operating. Entire flight was conducted in VMC, as I did not feel safe flying IMC in an aircraft with a 50+ yr old attitude indicator, 1 VOR, and 1 radio. Several times during the flight, instructor was asked to explain how to use the LORAN and second VOR, which was an unfamiliar design. He was unable. He was also asked to read several instruments, and was unable, even with glasses. I asked the instructor to fly the aircraft while I took a potty break. The instructor could not maintain anything close to straight and level flight in VMC. Note that he had previously assured us he could fly partial panel in IMC from the right seat if need be. Flight was 4 hours 15 mins, with about 45 mins of fuel remaining at end of flight. After refueling at mhk, it was determined the aircraft burned 21 gph rather than the 15 gph he stated. Another MEL student pilot flew the next leg VFR to YYY during which we smelled gasoline fumes in the cockpit after fiddling with the heater valve. No concern was expressed by the instructor. During taxi at YYY, the instructor became irate and irrational as they taxied us across the field. The instructor insisted we park on the west ramp, so the other student shut down there. After a lot of yelling and screaming by the instructor, we were asked by ground personnel to move and park elsewhere. The instructor became even more irate. We finally restarted and taxied to a distant parking spot, the instructor yelling at the world the whole time. Planned departure from YYY on jul/fri/04. Conditions at YYY were IFR, and marginal along route, with thunderstorm activity forecast. Instructor showed up and said conditions were fine -- we just needed to fly west then would be out of the bad WX. This conflicted with the on-line WX reports as well as the briefing I received from the FSS. Initially, instructor insisted we depart, and I said I would not go -- he was free to go himself. After some heated discussions, he said he did not want me to do anything I was uncomfortable with and agreed to depart the next day. Ground movement with intention to fly jul/sat/04. At YYY, I was again left seat and preparing for a VFR flight to mhk. I performed a preflight of the engines and fuel, instructor insisted the aircraft was airworthy as it made it up here and we didn't need to waste time. We insisted on a complete preflight and found a blocked pitot tube. We knocked some mud out, but it was clear there was still lots of contamination inside the pitot tube. He again insisted that was ok, and that we really don't need the airspeed indicator -- 'it is the most useless instrument on the aircraft' he pointed out several times. We insisted on calling a mechanic, who found the pitot tube full of insects that had built a nest out of mud. After the pitot tube was cleaned and reinstalled by the mechanic, we got in again and started taxiing out. The cockpit filled with strong gasoline fumes during the taxi and run-up and did not go away. We pulled back on the grass to park and the other student got out to find fuel streaming from the bottom of the aircraft. The fuel eventually stopped dripping from the belly, but we did not know what caused this to happen. He insisted we fly to mhk as planned and see if a mechanic could fix the problem there. After we objected, he suggested we fly to madison, wi, and have the FBO look at it there. I decided, along with the other student, that we would call a local mechanic to determine the problem. The mechanic found a blocked drain line and a clamp missing from the rubber hose. The item was repaired and no further fuel leakage was found. Upon taxiing out to runway 36, I followed the flagmen's instructors. We were planning to depart runway 36, but it just closed so they diverted us to runway 27 using visual signals. At this point the instructor became irate again, calling tower on the radios and angrily insisting we return to runway 36. The tower suggested we turn left at the next taxiway and taxi back to runway 36. The frequency was quite busy at the time. I began to slowly turn left at the next taxiway looking for guidance from the flagman. He visually indicated we should continue straight. Since this conflicted with the tower instructions, I went to pull the mixtures to discuss the issue. The instructor pushed the mixtures forward and started yelling at me and the flagman. He pushed the throttles forward, and we nearly ran over the flagman -- I had to press the brakes harder to get the plane to stop. At this point, the flagman was visibly upset and insisted we chop the engines. Finally, I was able to yell back at the instructor and shut down the engines. At this point the other student said he was not flying on the aircraft any more and got out the side door. The instructor was now yelling at the flagman. I opened the side window and told the flagman we would taxi off to the side on the grass and shut down. He concurred. I restarted the engines and the instructor then insisted I taxi back to runway 36. I said we were taxiing to the grass and shutting down. He asked why and I replied I was not flying with him any more. The other student and I unloaded the bags, charts, and other material from the aircraft. The instructor begged us, individually, to fly the plane back with him as he could not do it himself. We said no. After a few mins, he said he would fly back himself and asked us for the charts. We refused to give him the charts or anything else that would be needed to encourage him to fly back. I did not feel he could fly solo safely because of his eyesight and lack of good judgement. I felt he would likely kill himself or someone else. The aircraft did not have any keys, so we could not stop him from starting the aircraft. He got in the aircraft, started the engines, and taxied back to runway 36 without any charts or materials. I called clearance delivery on a handheld radio and said the pilot in the aircraft was not safe to fly and asked if he could deny takeoff clearance. After some discussion, the controller said he would see what he could do. The aircraft was not allowed to take off from runway 36 -- apparently, from the radio traffic on tower frequency, the instructor had nearly run over several ground controllers and they were quite upset, calling the pilot a 'nut.' there was some radio traffic indicating they got him to shut down the engines on the taxiway prior to entering runway 36. A black van came to pick him up -- I do not know what happened after that.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: STUDENT PLT OF PA23 ENDURES 3 DAY ORDEAL WITH AGED INSTRUCTOR PLT WHO DISPLAYS INCREASINGLY PROBLEMATIC BEHAVIOR. ULTIMATELY, RPTR AND A SECOND STUDENT ABANDON THE ACFT BEFORE TKOF ON THE THIRD LEG OF THE TRIP.

Narrative: FLT LCL AT LOS LUNAS, NM, JUL/XA/04. WAS MY FIRST FLT FOR MEL TRAINING. INSTRUCTOR WAS REFERRED TO ME AND WAS EXPERIENCED IN THE AVIATION BUSINESS. INSTRUCTOR INDICATED HE WOULD LIKELY LOSE HIS MEDICAL IN OCTOBER AND WAS ABOUT 80 YRS OLD. I DID NOT CHK THE INSTRUCTOR'S PLT, MEDICAL, OR INSTRUCTIONAL CREDENTIALS PRIOR TO DEP. I DID NOT CHK MAINT LOGBOOKS ON ACFT. ALSO, ACFT DID NOT HAVE PROPER DUAL CTLS -- NO BRAKES ON R SIDE RUDDER CTLS. IN SPITE OF THE FACT HE OWNED THE ACFT, THE INSTRUCTOR WAS UNABLE TO NAME THE YR OF THE ACFT, OR EXPLAIN HOW TO OPERATE SOME OF THE NAV EQUIP. IT IS ESTIMATED THE ACFT IS A 1957 PIPER APACHE. HOWEVER, ACFT DID HAVE RECENT ENG OVERHAULS, PROP GOVERNOR, AND PROPS REPLACED. ONLY 1 RADIO AND VOR WAS FUNCTIONING. INSTRUCTIONAL FLT WAS VFR AND CONSISTED OF 3 LNDGS AT 2 ARPTS. ACFT WAS OLD, BUT IN DECENT CONDITION FOR ITS AGE. INSTRUCTOR INDICATED HIS EYESIGHT WAS FAILING, BUT I TOOK HIS WORD THAT HE COULD FLY THE ACFT OK. FLT WAS UNEVENTFUL. FLT FROM XXX TO MHK JUL/TUE/04. FLT WAS FILED IFR UNDER INSTRUCTOR'S NAME AS PIC. PURPOSE OF FLT WAS TRANSIT TO YYY WITH MEL INSTRUCTOR IN R SEAT AND STUDENT IN L SEAT, PLUS A SECOND STUDENT IN THE REAR SEAT. DEP TIME WAS XA00 AND STILL DARK. NO LOG OF VOR CHKS WAS FOUND. INSTRUCTOR INSISTED UPON DEP WHEN IT WAS DETERMINED NAV LIGHTS INOP. BEACON WAS OPERATING. ENTIRE FLT WAS CONDUCTED IN VMC, AS I DID NOT FEEL SAFE FLYING IMC IN AN ACFT WITH A 50+ YR OLD ATTITUDE INDICATOR, 1 VOR, AND 1 RADIO. SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE FLT, INSTRUCTOR WAS ASKED TO EXPLAIN HOW TO USE THE LORAN AND SECOND VOR, WHICH WAS AN UNFAMILIAR DESIGN. HE WAS UNABLE. HE WAS ALSO ASKED TO READ SEVERAL INSTS, AND WAS UNABLE, EVEN WITH GLASSES. I ASKED THE INSTRUCTOR TO FLY THE ACFT WHILE I TOOK A POTTY BREAK. THE INSTRUCTOR COULD NOT MAINTAIN ANYTHING CLOSE TO STRAIGHT AND LEVEL FLT IN VMC. NOTE THAT HE HAD PREVIOUSLY ASSURED US HE COULD FLY PARTIAL PANEL IN IMC FROM THE R SEAT IF NEED BE. FLT WAS 4 HRS 15 MINS, WITH ABOUT 45 MINS OF FUEL REMAINING AT END OF FLT. AFTER REFUELING AT MHK, IT WAS DETERMINED THE ACFT BURNED 21 GPH RATHER THAN THE 15 GPH HE STATED. ANOTHER MEL STUDENT PLT FLEW THE NEXT LEG VFR TO YYY DURING WHICH WE SMELLED GASOLINE FUMES IN THE COCKPIT AFTER FIDDLING WITH THE HEATER VALVE. NO CONCERN WAS EXPRESSED BY THE INSTRUCTOR. DURING TAXI AT YYY, THE INSTRUCTOR BECAME IRATE AND IRRATIONAL AS THEY TAXIED US ACROSS THE FIELD. THE INSTRUCTOR INSISTED WE PARK ON THE W RAMP, SO THE OTHER STUDENT SHUT DOWN THERE. AFTER A LOT OF YELLING AND SCREAMING BY THE INSTRUCTOR, WE WERE ASKED BY GND PERSONNEL TO MOVE AND PARK ELSEWHERE. THE INSTRUCTOR BECAME EVEN MORE IRATE. WE FINALLY RESTARTED AND TAXIED TO A DISTANT PARKING SPOT, THE INSTRUCTOR YELLING AT THE WORLD THE WHOLE TIME. PLANNED DEP FROM YYY ON JUL/FRI/04. CONDITIONS AT YYY WERE IFR, AND MARGINAL ALONG RTE, WITH TSTM ACTIVITY FORECAST. INSTRUCTOR SHOWED UP AND SAID CONDITIONS WERE FINE -- WE JUST NEEDED TO FLY W THEN WOULD BE OUT OF THE BAD WX. THIS CONFLICTED WITH THE ON-LINE WX RPTS AS WELL AS THE BRIEFING I RECEIVED FROM THE FSS. INITIALLY, INSTRUCTOR INSISTED WE DEPART, AND I SAID I WOULD NOT GO -- HE WAS FREE TO GO HIMSELF. AFTER SOME HEATED DISCUSSIONS, HE SAID HE DID NOT WANT ME TO DO ANYTHING I WAS UNCOMFORTABLE WITH AND AGREED TO DEPART THE NEXT DAY. GND MOVEMENT WITH INTENTION TO FLY JUL/SAT/04. AT YYY, I WAS AGAIN L SEAT AND PREPARING FOR A VFR FLT TO MHK. I PERFORMED A PREFLT OF THE ENGS AND FUEL, INSTRUCTOR INSISTED THE ACFT WAS AIRWORTHY AS IT MADE IT UP HERE AND WE DIDN'T NEED TO WASTE TIME. WE INSISTED ON A COMPLETE PREFLT AND FOUND A BLOCKED PITOT TUBE. WE KNOCKED SOME MUD OUT, BUT IT WAS CLR THERE WAS STILL LOTS OF CONTAMINATION INSIDE THE PITOT TUBE. HE AGAIN INSISTED THAT WAS OK, AND THAT WE REALLY DON'T NEED THE AIRSPD INDICATOR -- 'IT IS THE MOST USELESS INST ON THE ACFT' HE POINTED OUT SEVERAL TIMES. WE INSISTED ON CALLING A MECH, WHO FOUND THE PITOT TUBE FULL OF INSECTS THAT HAD BUILT A NEST OUT OF MUD. AFTER THE PITOT TUBE WAS CLEANED AND REINSTALLED BY THE MECH, WE GOT IN AGAIN AND STARTED TAXIING OUT. THE COCKPIT FILLED WITH STRONG GASOLINE FUMES DURING THE TAXI AND RUN-UP AND DID NOT GO AWAY. WE PULLED BACK ON THE GRASS TO PARK AND THE OTHER STUDENT GOT OUT TO FIND FUEL STREAMING FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE ACFT. THE FUEL EVENTUALLY STOPPED DRIPPING FROM THE BELLY, BUT WE DID NOT KNOW WHAT CAUSED THIS TO HAPPEN. HE INSISTED WE FLY TO MHK AS PLANNED AND SEE IF A MECH COULD FIX THE PROB THERE. AFTER WE OBJECTED, HE SUGGESTED WE FLY TO MADISON, WI, AND HAVE THE FBO LOOK AT IT THERE. I DECIDED, ALONG WITH THE OTHER STUDENT, THAT WE WOULD CALL A LCL MECH TO DETERMINE THE PROB. THE MECH FOUND A BLOCKED DRAIN LINE AND A CLAMP MISSING FROM THE RUBBER HOSE. THE ITEM WAS REPAIRED AND NO FURTHER FUEL LEAKAGE WAS FOUND. UPON TAXIING OUT TO RWY 36, I FOLLOWED THE FLAGMEN'S INSTRUCTORS. WE WERE PLANNING TO DEPART RWY 36, BUT IT JUST CLOSED SO THEY DIVERTED US TO RWY 27 USING VISUAL SIGNALS. AT THIS POINT THE INSTRUCTOR BECAME IRATE AGAIN, CALLING TWR ON THE RADIOS AND ANGRILY INSISTING WE RETURN TO RWY 36. THE TWR SUGGESTED WE TURN L AT THE NEXT TXWY AND TAXI BACK TO RWY 36. THE FREQ WAS QUITE BUSY AT THE TIME. I BEGAN TO SLOWLY TURN L AT THE NEXT TXWY LOOKING FOR GUIDANCE FROM THE FLAGMAN. HE VISUALLY INDICATED WE SHOULD CONTINUE STRAIGHT. SINCE THIS CONFLICTED WITH THE TWR INSTRUCTIONS, I WENT TO PULL THE MIXTURES TO DISCUSS THE ISSUE. THE INSTRUCTOR PUSHED THE MIXTURES FORWARD AND STARTED YELLING AT ME AND THE FLAGMAN. HE PUSHED THE THROTTLES FORWARD, AND WE NEARLY RAN OVER THE FLAGMAN -- I HAD TO PRESS THE BRAKES HARDER TO GET THE PLANE TO STOP. AT THIS POINT, THE FLAGMAN WAS VISIBLY UPSET AND INSISTED WE CHOP THE ENGS. FINALLY, I WAS ABLE TO YELL BACK AT THE INSTRUCTOR AND SHUT DOWN THE ENGS. AT THIS POINT THE OTHER STUDENT SAID HE WAS NOT FLYING ON THE ACFT ANY MORE AND GOT OUT THE SIDE DOOR. THE INSTRUCTOR WAS NOW YELLING AT THE FLAGMAN. I OPENED THE SIDE WINDOW AND TOLD THE FLAGMAN WE WOULD TAXI OFF TO THE SIDE ON THE GRASS AND SHUT DOWN. HE CONCURRED. I RESTARTED THE ENGS AND THE INSTRUCTOR THEN INSISTED I TAXI BACK TO RWY 36. I SAID WE WERE TAXIING TO THE GRASS AND SHUTTING DOWN. HE ASKED WHY AND I REPLIED I WAS NOT FLYING WITH HIM ANY MORE. THE OTHER STUDENT AND I UNLOADED THE BAGS, CHARTS, AND OTHER MATERIAL FROM THE ACFT. THE INSTRUCTOR BEGGED US, INDIVIDUALLY, TO FLY THE PLANE BACK WITH HIM AS HE COULD NOT DO IT HIMSELF. WE SAID NO. AFTER A FEW MINS, HE SAID HE WOULD FLY BACK HIMSELF AND ASKED US FOR THE CHARTS. WE REFUSED TO GIVE HIM THE CHARTS OR ANYTHING ELSE THAT WOULD BE NEEDED TO ENCOURAGE HIM TO FLY BACK. I DID NOT FEEL HE COULD FLY SOLO SAFELY BECAUSE OF HIS EYESIGHT AND LACK OF GOOD JUDGEMENT. I FELT HE WOULD LIKELY KILL HIMSELF OR SOMEONE ELSE. THE ACFT DID NOT HAVE ANY KEYS, SO WE COULD NOT STOP HIM FROM STARTING THE ACFT. HE GOT IN THE ACFT, STARTED THE ENGS, AND TAXIED BACK TO RWY 36 WITHOUT ANY CHARTS OR MATERIALS. I CALLED CLRNC DELIVERY ON A HANDHELD RADIO AND SAID THE PLT IN THE ACFT WAS NOT SAFE TO FLY AND ASKED IF HE COULD DENY TKOF CLRNC. AFTER SOME DISCUSSION, THE CTLR SAID HE WOULD SEE WHAT HE COULD DO. THE ACFT WAS NOT ALLOWED TO TAKE OFF FROM RWY 36 -- APPARENTLY, FROM THE RADIO TFC ON TWR FREQ, THE INSTRUCTOR HAD NEARLY RUN OVER SEVERAL GND CTLRS AND THEY WERE QUITE UPSET, CALLING THE PLT A 'NUT.' THERE WAS SOME RADIO TFC INDICATING THEY GOT HIM TO SHUT DOWN THE ENGS ON THE TXWY PRIOR TO ENTERING RWY 36. A BLACK VAN CAME TO PICK HIM UP -- I DO NOT KNOW WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.