PLT OF BE10 RETURNING TO ZZZ FOLLOWING A SKYDIVE MISSION ENCOUNTERS GLIDER TOW ROPE ACROSS RWY 8 ON LNDG ROLLOUT.

Date: 2003-11 · Aircraft: King Air 100 A/B · Phase: landing

Anomalies: conflict-ground-conflict|critical|deviation-discrepancy-procedural-published-material-policy|ground-event-encounter-fod

Synopsis

PLT OF BE10 RETURNING TO ZZZ FOLLOWING A SKYDIVE MISSION ENCOUNTERS GLIDER TOW ROPE ACROSS RWY 8 ON LNDG ROLLOUT.

Narrative

RETURNING TO ZZZ TO LAND AFTER A SKYDIVE DROP; A GLIDER TOW WAS IN PROGRESS. A PICK-UP TRUCK WILL TOW A GLIDER UP TO APPROX 800-1000 FT MSL; THE GLIDER WILL RELEASE FROM THE ROPE AND THE ROPE FALLS BACK TO THE GND USUALLY ALONG SIDE AND SOMETIMES ACROSS THE NORMALLY ACTIVE RWY 8. WHILE ON THE 45 DEGS TO DOWNWIND; THE 'DOWN AND CLR' WAS BROADCAST ON THE UNICOM BY THE PERSON DRIVING THE TRUCK. I CONTINUED ON MY APCH; TURNING BASE THEN FINAL AND LNDG. PASSING APPROX THE PAINTED 26 AND THE DISPLACED THRESHOLD (AN ADDITIONAL 2000 FT); I HEARD A BANG; THEN ALMOST IMMEDIATELY SAW A ROPE HIT THE WINDSHIELD AND PROCEED UP AND OUT OF VIEW OVER THE TOP OF THE ACFT. I SHUT DOWN THE ACFT TO HAVE A LOOK AT ANY POSSIBLE DAMAGE FOR I WAS UNSURE ABOUT THE ACTUAL PATH THE ROPE TOOK. THE MAIN PROB I CAN SEE IS THE BREAK IN COM BTWN THE TRUCK DRIVER AND THE PERSON DEALING WITH THE ROPE. ONLY THE TRUCK DRIVER HAD A HANDHELD RADIO AND NO INSTANT INFO PERTAINING TO THE POS OF THE ROPE. THE ROPE WAS DOWN BUT NOT CLR AND TAXIING BY IN BETA/REVERSE KICKED IT UP OVER THE ACFT AND INTO THE R PROP. I WAS UNDER THE FALSE IMPRESSION THAT THE ROPE WAS NO FACTOR AND CONTINUED ON INTO A DANGEROUS SIT WHEN I SHOULD HAVE PAID MORE ATTN TO THE TRUCK; PEOPLE AND THEIR ACTION IN RELATION TO THE ROPE. BUT DEALING WITH THE AUTO-TOW FOR EVERY WEEKEND OVER 3 YRS; I BELIEVED WHAT I HEARD. NO ADDITIONAL CALL WAS EVER MADE CORRECTING THE INITIAL 'DOWN AND CLR.'

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