C310 PLT BECAME DISORIENTED WHILE TAKING THE RWY; AND STRUCK A RWY LIGHT WITH A PROP.

2003-11 · NASA ASRS report 599446

Date: 2003-11 · Aircraft: Cessna 310/T310C

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|ground-event-encounter-other-unknown

Synopsis

C310 PLT BECAME DISORIENTED WHILE TAKING THE RWY; AND STRUCK A RWY LIGHT WITH A PROP.

Narrative

I WAS CLRED TO TAXI VIA TXWY K TO RWY 32 AT ANC. APCHING THIS INTXN; I WAS CLRED FOR TKOF FROM RWY 32 AT TXWY K. I TAXIED ONTO THE RWY AND TURNED R TO ALIGN THE AIRPLANE WITH THE CTRLINE. HOWEVER; AS I TURNED TO WHAT I THOUGHT WAS THE CTRLINE; THE VIEW DID NOT APPEAR NORMAL AND I REALIZED THAT I HAD ALREADY CROSSED THE CTRLINE AND SEEMED WELL TO THE L OF IT. I ADDED SOME PWR TO TAXI FORWARD AND TO THE R TO TRY TO REORIENT MYSELF. A RWY LIGHT APPEARED JUST IN FRONT OF AND TO THE L OF THE ACFT. I CHOPPED TE PWR AND TRIED SWERVING MORE TO THE R; BUT I WAS ALREADY TOO CLOSE TO IT AND COULD NOT AVOID IT. I FELT A SLIGHT IMPACT AND SAW GLASS FRAGMENTS AS THE L PROP STRUCK THE LIGHT. THE RWY LIGHT APPEARED TO BE JUST WITHIN THE ARC OF THE L PROP; OUTBOARD OF THE L MAIN LNDG GEAR; WHEN IT STRUCK. I PULLED BOTH PWR LEVERS TO IDLE AND CAME TO A FULL STOP. BOTH ENGS WERE STILL IDLING NORMALLY; ALL ENG GAUGES APPEARED NORMAL; AND NO DAMAGE WAS IMMEDIATELY VISIBLE. THERE WAS A SLIGHT VIBRATION ON THE L ENG. I INFORMED THE CTL TWR THAT I HAD JUST STRUCK A RWY LIGHT; AND REQUESTED TAXI CLRNC BACK TO THE RAMP. I TAXIED BACK TO THE RAMP; AND PERFORMED A NORMAL ENG SHUTDOWN. SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE AIRPLANE INSIDE THE LIGHTED HANGAR REVEALED THAT THE 3-BLADED PROP ON THE L ENG HAD SUSTAINED DAMAGE. THE ENTIRE TIP WAS MISSING FROM 1 BLADE; THERE WERE NUMEROUS SIGNIFICANT DINGS AND SCRATCHES ON A SECOND; AND NO APPARENT DAMAGE TO THE THIRD. NO OTHER DAMAGE TO THE AIRPLANE WAS NOTICED. I WOULD ATTRIBUTE THE OCCURRENCE OF THIS INCIDENT TO BECOMING DISORIENTED IN THE DARK AS I TURNED ONTO RWY 32 AT TXWY K. AT NIGHT; THIS AREA RESEMBLED A 'BLACK HOLE' FROM THE LOW-SLUNG COCKPIT OF A LIGHT TWIN ACFT. I HAD STARTED MY DUTY DAY AT XA30 EARLIER THAT EVENING; SO I WAS STILL WELL WITHIN MY LEGAL DUTY DAY. ANOTHER NIGHT FLT EARLIER THAT EVENING HAD RUN LATER THAN EXPECTED; RESULTING IN AN EVEN LATER DEP TIME FOR THIS PLANNED FLT -- IT WAS XH00 WHEN I BEGAN MY TAXI OUT. ALTHOUGH I DIDN'T CONSCIOUSLY FEEL FATIGUED; I HAD BEEN UP ALL NIGHT; AND MY BODY TIME CLOCK MAY NOT HAVE BEEN ACCLIMATED TO BEING UP ALL NIGHT. THIS MAY HAVE SLOWED MY OVERALL REACTIONS; AND CONTRIBUTED TO THE INITIAL DISORIENTATION; TO MY ABILITY TO RECOGNIZE THE UNUSUAL VISUAL PERSPECTIVE RESULTING FROM THAT; AND TO MY ABILITY TO RECOVER FROM IT. THE PROCESS OF COMPLETING FINAL ITEMS ON THE BEFORE-TKOF CHKLIST WHILE MANEUVERING FOR TKOF MAY ALSO HAVE BEEN A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO THE DISORIENTATION. IN THE FUTURE; I PLAN TO AVOID A RECURRENCE OF THIS KIND OF SIT BY REDUCING DISTRS; ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT AND IN THE SINGLE-PLT FLT ENVIRONMENT; BY FULLY COMPLETING CHKLISTS PRIOR TO MANEUVERING ONTO THE ACTIVE RWY; AND BY MAINTAINING A CLOSER WATCH ON THE VISUAL CUES PROVIDING GUIDANCE ONTO THE RWY (IE; YELLOW TXWY CTRLINE MARKINGS AND TRANSITIONS). BRINGING ALONG A SECOND PLT; EVEN IF NOT REQUIRED; WOULD HAVE PROVIDED A SECOND SET OF EYES AND BACKED UP MY OWN JUDGEMENT. IN PARTICULAR; I WILL ALSO MAINTAIN A CLOSER AWARENESS OF MY PHYSIOLOGICAL STATE; AND CANCEL A FLT IF I THINK I MAY BE AFFECTED BY FATIGUE; REGARDLESS OF DUTY TIME LIMITATIONS.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.

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