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A PA-25 pilot conducting tow operations at an airport with an active airport survey crew was told that the aircraft's tow line hit some of the survey equipment. The survey party had no radio or method of monitoring flight operations at the CTAF airport.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 847275 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200908 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-25 Pawnee |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Final Approach Landing |
| Route In Use | Visual Approach |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Glider Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 30 Flight Crew Total 1232 Flight Crew Type 7 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy Ground Event / Encounter Person / Animal / Bird Ground Event / Encounter Vehicle Ground Incursion Runway |
Narrative:
I was towing gliders off the pavement. I was landing on a grass strip parallel to runway. The winds were consistently favoring this runway. There were vehicles; equipment and individuals moving about near the approach end of the runway; reportedly surveying the state owned airport property boundaries. On two separate occasions on returning to the airport to land; a vehicle was parked partway down the landing strip. I radioed the FBO to have someone go out and ask them to move. On each of these occurrences; I aborted my approach on the base leg; returned to the downwind leg and when the runway was clear; made a safe landing on the grass strip. The individuals doing the survey work reported to the line crew that my tow line had struck some of their equipment and damaged it. They denied that they had been hit or were injured. I did not feel a tug on the tow line and was unaware that the tow line had struck anything. I never saw the individuals or the reportedly damaged equipment. Cause of problem: vehicles; equipment and individuals on and near an active runway. Contributing factors: no radio for the work crew to monitor airport operations. Possible lack of clear/concise information about airport/glider operations. No follow up between survey crew and airport manager after incident occurred. PIC's total time in type aircraft. Gusty; variable wind conditions with windshear.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: A PA-25 pilot conducting tow operations at an airport with an active airport survey crew was told that the aircraft's tow line hit some of the survey equipment. The survey party had no radio or method of monitoring flight operations at the CTAF airport.
Narrative: I was towing gliders off the pavement. I was landing on a grass strip parallel to runway. The winds were consistently favoring this runway. There were vehicles; equipment and individuals moving about near the approach end of the runway; reportedly surveying the state owned airport property boundaries. On two separate occasions on returning to the airport to land; a vehicle was parked partway down the landing strip. I radioed the FBO to have someone go out and ask them to move. On each of these occurrences; I aborted my approach on the base leg; returned to the downwind leg and when the runway was clear; made a safe landing on the grass strip. The individuals doing the survey work reported to the line crew that my tow line had struck some of their equipment and damaged it. They denied that they had been hit or were injured. I did not feel a tug on the tow line and was unaware that the tow line had struck anything. I never saw the individuals or the reportedly damaged equipment. Cause of problem: Vehicles; equipment and individuals on and near an active runway. Contributing Factors: No radio for the work crew to monitor airport operations. Possible lack of clear/concise information about airport/glider operations. No follow up between survey crew and airport manager after incident occurred. PIC's total time in type aircraft. Gusty; variable wind conditions with windshear.
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.