Pay Attention (aviation lesson learned)

killbilly

Vocals, Lyrics, Triangle, Washboard, Kittens
This comes from the It-Can-Happen-To-Anyone-Department. Or the How-I-Screwed-Up-But-Learned Department.

The setup for this story is a little bit long, because I want you to understand HOW I got into this mindset.

Flew the RV down to FL for a couple of days to help my Dad out on his property with hurricane damage. Landed at VNC, he picked me up, and informed me that everything was pretty much done so what I expected to be a couple of days of hard labor turned out to be mostly hanging out and BSing with the Old Man, which was good and I'm grateful for the time spent. Looking at the Wx and my schedule, made the decision to come home yesterday. Took off from VNC just a hair before noon, got up above the broken layer, and headed north, skirting the TPA bravo.

Clouds were building up so I kept climbing, and around 10,500' between JAX and OCF it was clear I wasn't going to get over them. No convective development, but well above 13000' and I didn't have O2 nor had I taken the RV up past 12000' before, so I opted to descend below the layer and continue to BNL, which was my first refueling stop.

Note that filing IFR was an option, but I hadn't shaken down the plane for IFR ops yet since installing the new panel, and decided that testing in actual wasn't smart. So it would have been a legal option, but I didn't think it was a smart one. So I find a big hole and circle-descend to get below the layer while keeping VFR legal.

I finally get below it around 2700' or so, which is fine - there's no real terrain or obstructions to worry about. I'm flying slower, which is annoying. Fuel state changes, of course. Other than a hazy, bumpy ride for the next 45-50 minutes and having a hard time keeping radio contact with JAX and SAV approach freqs, it's not a big deal. Flight Following is a nice-to-have, but I don't actually NEED it, and again, aside from the annoying bumpy ride, things are fine. Visibility is deteriorating but it's still VFR.

About 6-7 mi from BNL visibility rapidly - and I mean RAPIDLY - goes from marginal to sub-VFR. Big, fat, wide rainshaft. Okay, no big deal. U-turn, reassess. I've still got a little less than an hour of fuel and TBR is right behind me, so I decide to land at TBR and take a break. Was last there in 2016, I remember where the fuel pumps are. Landing is fine and uneventful.

I get out of the plane, note the time and realize I can get back home by 1800, 1830 if I take my time. Still, TBR is a minor change in my planning, right? So I'm thinking about the next leg while I'm putting my credit card in the fuel machine, and grounding the airplane, and pulling out the fuel hose and heading to my left wing to start fueling. I'm thinking about altitude, looking at the sky, yep, it's looking better, I bet I can stay VFR at 8500 and just so some slaloming, that'll be fun...what a better plan/fuel burn will be, etc....

A guy comes walking out of the hangar near the pumps and gives me a nod - I nod back, say, "Hey, how's it going?"

He says, "Wrong one."
I blink. "What?"
"Wrong one." He goes to the fuel pump and points. "Wrong one," he says.
I still don't see the problem and stare for a good 3 seconds before the penny drops.

I had pulled out the hose for the Jet A.

"Whoa. Thank you," I say, somewhat embarrassed. And then grateful. Reel the hose back up, shaking my head, and proceed to fuel with 100LL like I'm supposed to. There are signs on the enclosure that clearly specify what is what.

I never saw them. Just didn't register.

Now - the way these QT pumps work these days, you authorize the fuel type first, but I don't know if that's a failsafe to the correct pump or not. You'd think it was. And I cannot remember now if I had turned on the pump or not. So let's hope that the machine wouldn't have allowed me to pump the gas.

But what if it had?

Or, it doesn't work, but I fuel some quantity of Jet A that was laying in the hose into my tank without noticing how much because there's just a little residual pressure in the hose. Massively inconvenient at that point to drain and re-fuel. Not to mention expensive.

That guy, who was paying attention, saved my ass from, at best, a pain in the ass Mx task on a long XC and at worst, potentially saved my engine and/or life. I should have gotten his name, thanked him properly and offered to buy him a beer. I didn't. Too shocked at my incompetence at that point.

Woke me up, it did.

Here's the big takeaway for me, and something I'm adding to my Bag Of Experience: Pay attention. Be present in what you're doing.

Lesson learned.
 
Was wondering if it would have actually worked, due to like you mentioned, that on the self serve pumps these days, you have to swipe the card, select the fuel type, select gallons or dollars or fill up, all of which are multiple, very deliberate actions. Even if you had selected 100LL, the opposite pump should’ve activated for the 100LL and not the hose you were holding. All those fail safes should’ve worked. Still though, the general point you make is very valid and not to ever be taken lightly. And well worth posting as a reminder to everyone. Thank you for posting this.

The novice pilot’s enemy, is inexperience. The experienced pilot’s enemy, is complacency.
 
Was wondering if it would have actually worked, due to like you mentioned, that on the self serve pumps these days, you have to swipe the card, select the fuel type, select gallons or dollars or fill up, all of which are multiple, very deliberate actions. Even if you had selected 100LL, the opposite pump should’ve activated for the 100LL and not the hose you were holding. All those fail safes should’ve worked. Still though, the general point you make is very valid and not to ever be taken lightly. And well worth posting as a reminder to everyone. Thank you for posting this.

The novice pilot’s enemy, is inexperience. The experienced pilot’s enemy, is complacency.

I am 90% sure I did select 100LL on the fuel kiosk, because I did not have to re-do the transaction after realizing I had the wrong one, and 100LL is what clearly came out of the correct hose once I picked it up. The real question - and I really, really wish I could remember for sure - is whether or not I turned the pump on the Jet A side on or not. I distinctly remember The Guy pointing at the switch for turning on 100LL and then turning it on myself, so maybe it's a failsafe and maybe not. Still got my attention in a not-feeling-good-way.
 
Stupid question. But are the nozzles different? I haven't fueled anything with Jet A in 4 decades. My RV (motorhome, not plane) burns diesel and the nozzle handle is always green.
 
Stupid question. But are the nozzles different? I haven't fueled anything with Jet A in 4 decades. My RV (motorhome, not plane) burns diesel and the nozzle handle is always green.

There should be a different nozzle for each fuel type. Diesel has a larger diameter and should not fit into a gasoline filler neck, but people still manage to do it.

The same with a Jet-A nozzle having a duckbill and shouldn’t fit into a gasoline filler neck.
 
I am 90% sure I did select 100LL on the fuel kiosk, because I did not have to re-do the transaction after realizing I had the wrong one, and 100LL is what clearly came out of the correct hose once I picked it up. The real question - and I really, really wish I could remember for sure - is whether or not I turned the pump on the Jet A side on or not. I distinctly remember The Guy pointing at the switch for turning on 100LL and then turning it on myself, so maybe it's a failsafe and maybe not. Still got my attention in a not-feeling-good-way.

if you selected 100LL, I believe only that side pump would be activated. At least at the airports here, the self serve Jet and 100LL, although located right next to one another and having separate sides of the same large tank, are completely separate systems. Once you select one or the other, only that side gets activated. If I selected Jet A after my card swipe, then pulled the 100LL hose, nothing would happen when I squeezed the trigger and the pump would be heard being on over at the Jet fuel side. At least that’s how the ones here work.
 
There should be a different nozzle for each fuel type. Diesel has a larger diameter and should not fit into a gasoline filler neck, but people still manage to do it.

The same with a Jet-A nozzle having a duckbill and shouldn’t fit into a gasoline filler neck.

iconically, duck-bill Jet fuel nozzles do not fit in the AS350/H125 fuel receptacles, which is a pain in the ass. Not sure if it’s because they are foreign Airbus products.
 
Back in my ramper days in CLT some guys I worked with filled the inboard tanks on a KingAir with 100LL. Thankfully it was caught before they left.
 
Back in my ramper days in CLT some guys I worked with filled the inboard tanks on a KingAir with 100LL. Thankfully it was caught before they left.

At least that's not a fatal mistake. The PT-6 can burn 100LL ok for a bit, but the reverse is most definitely not true. There have been numerous cases of big twin piston engines being misfueled with disastrous consequences.
 
At least that's not a fatal mistake. The PT-6 can burn 100LL ok for a bit, but the reverse is most definitely not true. There have been numerous cases of big twin piston engines being misfueled with disastrous consequences.
It happened to Bob Hoover, the fueler put Jet A in his piston commander. Fried both engines before the gear doors closed.

Some here may remember about 25 years ago in SoCal. The refinery emptied a Jet A storage tank (but did not clean it) and filled it with AvGas. Then filled several dozen tanker trucks and sent them to airports far and wide. It took a couple days to figure out what had happened.

Long story short, the refinery bought a sheet load of new aircraft engines. If you had a fuel receipt, you got a new engine(s) and all costs to install, no questions asked.

I know an AA pilot who owns a twin, still owns it today. Both engines were run out and the cost to rebuild them was looking prohibited on his new 1st officer salary. He refueled in front or his hangar and put it away with his tug, never started the engines. A couple days later the FBO gets ahold of him and tells him what happened. He got two new engines installed for free, he's still flying on those same engines today.

I also heard people with newer engines who had filled their tanks, but never started the engines, were selling their fuel receipts for a lot of money. Todays price to purchase and install one factory rebuilt io-520 is about $60k, add another $10k for a same sized Lycoming

The problem was, engines shops and engine manufactures were suddenly backed up a year.
 
I had pulled out the hose for the Jet A.

"Whoa. Thank you," I say, somewhat embarrassed. And then grateful.
This is the best nugget of wisdom. Be grateful when others catch mistakes. I remember when as a new FO, my CA said "Good catch" while other CA might have been surly. Don't ever be the Captain where everyone around you has a let him reap what he sows attitude.
 
This comes from the It-Can-Happen-To-Anyone-Department. Or the How-I-Screwed-Up-But-Learned Department.

The setup for this story is a little bit long, because I want you to understand HOW I got into this mindset.

Flew the RV down to FL for a couple of days to help my Dad out on his property with hurricane damage. Landed at VNC, he picked me up, and informed me that everything was pretty much done so what I expected to be a couple of days of hard labor turned out to be mostly hanging out and BSing with the Old Man, which was good and I'm grateful for the time spent. Looking at the Wx and my schedule, made the decision to come home yesterday. Took off from VNC just a hair before noon, got up above the broken layer, and headed north, skirting the TPA bravo.

Clouds were building up so I kept climbing, and around 10,500' between JAX and OCF it was clear I wasn't going to get over them. No convective development, but well above 13000' and I didn't have O2 nor had I taken the RV up past 12000' before, so I opted to descend below the layer and continue to BNL, which was my first refueling stop.

Note that filing IFR was an option, but I hadn't shaken down the plane for IFR ops yet since installing the new panel, and decided that testing in actual wasn't smart. So it would have been a legal option, but I didn't think it was a smart one. So I find a big hole and circle-descend to get below the layer while keeping VFR legal.

I finally get below it around 2700' or so, which is fine - there's no real terrain or obstructions to worry about. I'm flying slower, which is annoying. Fuel state changes, of course. Other than a hazy, bumpy ride for the next 45-50 minutes and having a hard time keeping radio contact with JAX and SAV approach freqs, it's not a big deal. Flight Following is a nice-to-have, but I don't actually NEED it, and again, aside from the annoying bumpy ride, things are fine. Visibility is deteriorating but it's still VFR.

About 6-7 mi from BNL visibility rapidly - and I mean RAPIDLY - goes from marginal to sub-VFR. Big, fat, wide rainshaft. Okay, no big deal. U-turn, reassess. I've still got a little less than an hour of fuel and TBR is right behind me, so I decide to land at TBR and take a break. Was last there in 2016, I remember where the fuel pumps are. Landing is fine and uneventful.

I get out of the plane, note the time and realize I can get back home by 1800, 1830 if I take my time. Still, TBR is a minor change in my planning, right? So I'm thinking about the next leg while I'm putting my credit card in the fuel machine, and grounding the airplane, and pulling out the fuel hose and heading to my left wing to start fueling. I'm thinking about altitude, looking at the sky, yep, it's looking better, I bet I can stay VFR at 8500 and just so some slaloming, that'll be fun...what a better plan/fuel burn will be, etc....

A guy comes walking out of the hangar near the pumps and gives me a nod - I nod back, say, "Hey, how's it going?"

He says, "Wrong one."
I blink. "What?"
"Wrong one." He goes to the fuel pump and points. "Wrong one," he says.
I still don't see the problem and stare for a good 3 seconds before the penny drops.

I had pulled out the hose for the Jet A.

"Whoa. Thank you," I say, somewhat embarrassed. And then grateful. Reel the hose back up, shaking my head, and proceed to fuel with 100LL like I'm supposed to. There are signs on the enclosure that clearly specify what is what.

I never saw them. Just didn't register.

Now - the way these QT pumps work these days, you authorize the fuel type first, but I don't know if that's a failsafe to the correct pump or not. You'd think it was. And I cannot remember now if I had turned on the pump or not. So let's hope that the machine wouldn't have allowed me to pump the gas.

But what if it had?

Or, it doesn't work, but I fuel some quantity of Jet A that was laying in the hose into my tank without noticing how much because there's just a little residual pressure in the hose. Massively inconvenient at that point to drain and re-fuel. Not to mention expensive.

That guy, who was paying attention, saved my ass from, at best, a pain in the ass Mx task on a long XC and at worst, potentially saved my engine and/or life. I should have gotten his name, thanked him properly and offered to buy him a beer. I didn't. Too shocked at my incompetence at that point.

Woke me up, it did.

Here's the big takeaway for me, and something I'm adding to my Bag Of Experience: Pay attention. Be present in what you're doing.

Lesson learned.

Were you already fueling, when the guy told you? If so how did you get the Jet-A out of the tanks?
 
I'm putting my credit card in the fuel machine, and grounding the airplane, and pulling out the fuel hose and heading to my left wing to start fueling. I'm thinking about altitude, looking at the sky, yep, it's looking better, I bet I can stay VFR at 8500 and just so some slaloming, that'll be fun...what a better plan/fuel burn will be, etc....

A guy comes walking out of the hangar near the pumps and gives me a nod - I nod back, say, "Hey, how's it going?"

He says, "Wrong one."
I blink. "What?"
"Wrong one." He goes to the fuel pump and points. "Wrong one," he says.
I still don't see the problem and stare for a good 3 seconds before the penny drops.

I had pulled out the hose for the Jet A.

Glad it worked out. Learning experience aside, it sounds like a nice trip.
 
This comes from the It-Can-Happen-To-Anyone-Department. Or the How-I-Screwed-Up-But-Learned Department.

The setup for this story is a little bit long, because I want you to understand HOW I got into this mindset.

Flew the RV down to FL for a couple of days to help my Dad out on his property with hurricane damage. Landed at VNC, he picked me up, and informed me that everything was pretty much done so what I expected to be a couple of days of hard labor turned out to be mostly hanging out and BSing with the Old Man, which was good and I'm grateful for the time spent. Looking at the Wx and my schedule, made the decision to come home yesterday. Took off from VNC just a hair before noon, got up above the broken layer, and headed north, skirting the TPA bravo.

Clouds were building up so I kept climbing, and around 10,500' between JAX and OCF it was clear I wasn't going to get over them. No convective development, but well above 13000' and I didn't have O2 nor had I taken the RV up past 12000' before, so I opted to descend below the layer and continue to BNL, which was my first refueling stop.

Note that filing IFR was an option, but I hadn't shaken down the plane for IFR ops yet since installing the new panel, and decided that testing in actual wasn't smart. So it would have been a legal option, but I didn't think it was a smart one. So I find a big hole and circle-descend to get below the layer while keeping VFR legal.

I finally get below it around 2700' or so, which is fine - there's no real terrain or obstructions to worry about. I'm flying slower, which is annoying. Fuel state changes, of course. Other than a hazy, bumpy ride for the next 45-50 minutes and having a hard time keeping radio contact with JAX and SAV approach freqs, it's not a big deal. Flight Following is a nice-to-have, but I don't actually NEED it, and again, aside from the annoying bumpy ride, things are fine. Visibility is deteriorating but it's still VFR.

About 6-7 mi from BNL visibility rapidly - and I mean RAPIDLY - goes from marginal to sub-VFR. Big, fat, wide rainshaft. Okay, no big deal. U-turn, reassess. I've still got a little less than an hour of fuel and TBR is right behind me, so I decide to land at TBR and take a break. Was last there in 2016, I remember where the fuel pumps are. Landing is fine and uneventful.

I get out of the plane, note the time and realize I can get back home by 1800, 1830 if I take my time. Still, TBR is a minor change in my planning, right? So I'm thinking about the next leg while I'm putting my credit card in the fuel machine, and grounding the airplane, and pulling out the fuel hose and heading to my left wing to start fueling. I'm thinking about altitude, looking at the sky, yep, it's looking better, I bet I can stay VFR at 8500 and just so some slaloming, that'll be fun...what a better plan/fuel burn will be, etc....

A guy comes walking out of the hangar near the pumps and gives me a nod - I nod back, say, "Hey, how's it going?"

He says, "Wrong one."
I blink. "What?"
"Wrong one." He goes to the fuel pump and points. "Wrong one," he says.
I still don't see the problem and stare for a good 3 seconds before the penny drops.

I had pulled out the hose for the Jet A.

"Whoa. Thank you," I say, somewhat embarrassed. And then grateful. Reel the hose back up, shaking my head, and proceed to fuel with 100LL like I'm supposed to. There are signs on the enclosure that clearly specify what is what.

I never saw them. Just didn't register.

Now - the way these QT pumps work these days, you authorize the fuel type first, but I don't know if that's a failsafe to the correct pump or not. You'd think it was. And I cannot remember now if I had turned on the pump or not. So let's hope that the machine wouldn't have allowed me to pump the gas.

But what if it had?

Or, it doesn't work, but I fuel some quantity of Jet A that was laying in the hose into my tank without noticing how much because there's just a little residual pressure in the hose. Massively inconvenient at that point to drain and re-fuel. Not to mention expensive.

That guy, who was paying attention, saved my ass from, at best, a pain in the ass Mx task on a long XC and at worst, potentially saved my engine and/or life. I should have gotten his name, thanked him properly and offered to buy him a beer. I didn't. Too shocked at my incompetence at that point.

Woke me up, it did.

Here's the big takeaway for me, and something I'm adding to my Bag Of Experience: Pay attention. Be present in what you're doing.

Lesson learned.
Thanks for telling us about this. I bet most here think this would never happen to them but it can. The simplest aviation error costs lives almost every day. Every morning I read preliminary accident reports and figure 1/2 those pilots are smarter than I, but they are dead.
 
iconically, duck-bill Jet fuel nozzles do not fit in the AS350/H125 fuel receptacles, which is a pain in the ass. Not sure if it’s because they are foreign Airbus products.
I remember back in the olden times as a line service guy we had Burbank PD (H500), Glendale PD (H300), CHP (JetRanger) and KCAL (AS350), and we'd obviously have to fuel all of them. I do recall having a seperate nozzle on the truck that you'd have to swap to fuel the A-Star. When the riots started and we started hot fueling things could've gotten sideways pretty quick but everyone kept their heads together and we never F'ed up.
 
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