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MishapVP-90 MishapMishap

1970's

MishapsMISHAPs: 20 JAN 79 LOCATION: NAS Glenview, Illinois TYPE: Collision Snow Bank SRIKE: No DEATHS: 00 BUNO: 152163 CAUSE: Pilot

UPDATE "...O.K. Here We Go. This Was 33 Years Ago, But I'll Give It My Best Shot..." Contributed by BERNARD, AE1 George R. george.bernard@mchsi.com [Updated 19MAY2012 | 16JUN2010]

We Left NAS Glenview, Illinois On 1-18-79 For An RO1N At Pensacola. When We Were Headed Back On The 19th We Were Getting Reports Of Severe Icing In The Whole Chicago Area (NAS Glenview, Illinois Being Just North Of Chicago). We Turned Back South & Went To Patrick AFB, FL. The Next Day, The 20th, We Headed Home. They'd Had A Fresh Snow After The Ice Storm So It Was Pretty Much A White-Out. We Landed All Right & Started Taxiing To Our Ramp. Now, In Those Days, NATOPS Stated That When Taxiing On Snow Leave The APU Off To Keep The Nose Wheel From Throwing Snow Into The APU Intake. It Also Stated, When Taxiing On Snow It Is Recommended To Keep The Outboard Engines Running For Better Control. All Of This Was Done & That Was Our Configuration Upon Striking The Snow Bank.

As We Were Taxiing Between A Parked Plane & The Snow Bank The Co-Pilot (In Right Seat) Kept Telling The Pilot To Go Farther Left To Clear The Parked Plane. The Pilot Did So & Ultimately Contacted The Snow Bank.

As We Were Told Later, If We Were In Doubt We Should Have Shut Down & Called For A Tow. All Well & Good For Hind-Sight. At The Time, The Pilot Thought He Had It Made (White-Out & Depth Perception?). As You Can See By One Of Those Pictures, We Didn't Need To Be That Far Left.

As For Me, I Heard This Going On While I Was Leaning Forward & Starting To Secure Unnecessory Items (Fuel Pumps, #2 Hyd. Pump, Etc.). As You Can See From The Pictures, The Plane Took A Violent Move To The Left, Throwing Me To The Right Side Of My Seat, Caused By The Prop Biting Into The Packed Snow Bank Pulling The Plane Slightly Forward & Left.

The #1 Prop Immediately Came Off, Went Into #2 Prop, Causing It To Come Off, & Continued Over The Aircraft. You Can See By The Pictures That It Walked Up & Forward As It Went Over. This Caused It To Knock The Cockpit Overhead Exit Door Out. It Slammed Into The Top Of My Seat. At This Point, & This Is Where Things Get A Little Gray, I Believe The Pilot Was Calling For "E" Handles & I Was Reaching For Them. I Pulled #1 "E" Handle & Grabbed #2. It Wouldn't Come Out. I Pulled #3 & #4 Out. Then I Went Back & Pulled #2 Again. This Time It Came Out. The Only Thing I Can Figure Is #2 Prop Must Have Been In The Process Of Coming Off When I Pulled On It The First Time.

We Were Chastized For Not Shutting Down & Requesting A Tow & We Were Chastized For Exiting The Aircraft On The Side Of A Fire.

Well, As It Turned Out, There Was A Fire Inside The Nacelle Of #1 Engine I Believe. We Had No Way Of Knowing This At The Time.

All I Knew Was That When I Got Out Of My Seat & Turned Around I Saw The Navigator On The Floor With Blood Coming Out Of His Head (Mild Concusion). He Had His Hand Up Saying, "Help Me". I Yelled At The Aft Observer & Told Him To Get That Ladder Down NOW!!! I Grabbed The Nav & We All Exited The Aircraft. So You Can Blame Me For The Improper Exit.

Anyway, That Just About Covers It. We Got The Plane Fixed & I Did All The High Power Turn-Ups & Check Flights Until It Was Released For Normal Service Again.

ROW 1 - LEFT TO RIGHT:

    P-3 Ramp NAS Glenview (Summertime), Approximated Crash Site, Aircraft Jerked To Left, Aircraft Jerked To Left, Aircraft Jerked To Left and Another View.
ROW 2 - LEFT TO RIGHT:
    Aircraft Jerked To Left, Path To Crash, Another View, Another View, Snowbank Impacted and Another View
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