A Bell206 pilot was notified after the fact that on at least one of his prior engine starts the tot ...

Narrative:

I was assigned to do a maintenance operational check and a track and balance. I completed the maintenance operational check and the initial track and balance flight. I had two starts on the engine in order to get this done. Another pilot went out to do the final flight for the track and balance with the mechanic. When they turned the battery switch on they saw an 'H' appear on the digital readout display of the tot gauge. I had accomplished one start with the mechanic on board and neither of us saw the 'H' appear. They interrogated the gauge and it showed that the 6th event was a start of 944 degrees for 3 seconds. The limit is 927 for one second. I had flown the aircraft for 6 days starting about 9 days prior and another pilot had flown it for two days after me. Neither he nor I ever saw the 'H' displayed. The dailies and regular maintenance; as well as write-ups had been accomplished by the mechanics and none of them saw it. I am not familiar with this gauge at all and had never had any training on it. I would normally be looking for a red light to indicate a hot start. It is possible that I could have overlooked this indication if it was there before I began flying; however; I don't believe this to be the case. I know that I did not have an exceedance of any sort; I monitor starts very carefully. The 'H' appears directly before the digital readout in the same color yellow. If it was there it did not stand out to me whatsoever and I also did not know to look for this type of indication. It is possible that this was a glitch; but I can't say for absolute sure if it was there when I flew it. I do not think that I would have overlooked this; but it is possible. I do not think that this could have gotten past so many sets of eyes; especially mechanics who are specifically looking for problems of this nature.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A Bell206 pilot was notified after the fact that on at least one of his prior engine starts the TOT (Turbine Outlet Temperature) exceeded the start limit. The pilot did not see the indications reported to him and questioned the indication's accuracy.

Narrative: I was assigned to do a maintenance operational check and a track and balance. I completed the maintenance operational check and the initial track and balance flight. I had two starts on the engine in order to get this done. Another pilot went out to do the final flight for the track and balance with the mechanic. When they turned the battery switch on they saw an 'H' appear on the digital readout display of the TOT gauge. I had accomplished one start with the mechanic on board and neither of us saw the 'H' appear. They interrogated the gauge and it showed that the 6th event was a start of 944 degrees for 3 seconds. The limit is 927 for one second. I had flown the aircraft for 6 days starting about 9 days prior and another pilot had flown it for two days after me. Neither he nor I ever saw the 'H' displayed. The dailies and regular maintenance; as well as write-ups had been accomplished by the mechanics and none of them saw it. I am not familiar with this gauge at all and had never had any training on it. I would normally be looking for a red light to indicate a hot start. It is possible that I could have overlooked this indication if it was there before I began flying; however; I don't believe this to be the case. I know that I did not have an exceedance of any sort; I monitor starts very carefully. The 'H' appears directly before the digital readout in the same color yellow. If it was there it did not stand out to me whatsoever and I also did not know to look for this type of indication. It is possible that this was a glitch; but I can't say for absolute sure if it was there when I flew it. I do not think that I would have overlooked this; but it is possible. I do not think that this could have gotten past so many sets of eyes; especially mechanics who are specifically looking for problems of this nature.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	835593
Time
Date	200905
Local Time Of Day	0001-0600
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Kiowa/Kiowa Warrior/Combat Scout
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 135
Flight Phase	Parked
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Exhaust Gas Temperature Indicat
Person 1
Function	Pilot Flying Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 40 Flight Crew Total 1200 Flight Crew Type 140
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

A Bell206 pilot was notified after the fact that on at least one of his prior engine starts the tot (turbine outlet temperature) exceeded the start limit. The pilot did not see the indications reported to him and questioned the indication's accuracy.