152 evacuation procedures must be onboard during servicing. An aircraft door must remain open, and a clear evacuation route must be present.
Standard Preflight
THE TURBINE PILOT’S FLIGHT MANUAL
the captain does this, the first officer (FO) completes the rest of the aircraft preflight.
Cockpit and Emergency Equipment Checks
Pref light of a turbine aircraft includes many more items than you may be used to, and the duties of each crew member vary by equipment and company. At the same time, turbine preflight procedures follow a commonsense pattern that will seem familiar to you almost at once. In this section we cover some general preflight procedures (with emphasis on commercial operations). A standard preflight may be broken down into four basic categories: review of aircraft documents, cockpit check, emergency equipment check, and external check of aircraft.
Once the paperwork has been checked, the crew conducts a cockpit preflight flow check (Figure 12.1). This ensures that switches, controls, and circuit breakers are in their proper positions. Depending upon aircraft, season, and whether or not it’s the aircraft’s first flight of the day, the FO may opt to turn on the APU (auxiliary power unit) or GPU (ground power unit). Environmental systems can then be activated to adjust cabin temperatures in preparation for passenger boarding. An emergency equipment check covers the presence and operability of all fire extinguishing equipment, supplemental oxygen equipment, and emergency exits.
Aircraft Documents Review
Exterior Preflight Check
A standard preflight normally begins with a review of all aircraft documents required to be onboard. The following is a generic list of required documents found on turbine and/or commercial aircraft: • Airworthiness Certificate • Aircraft Registration Certificate • Radio Station License • Aircraft Flight Manual • Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Records • Normal, Abnormal, and Emergency Checklists • Airport Analysis and/or Aircraft Performance Data • Minimum Equipment List (MEL)/Configuration Deviation List (CDL) • Takeoff and Landing Data Cards (TOLD Cards) • Load Manifest • Compass Deviation Cards Often, it is the first officer’s duty to ensure that all required aircraft documents are onboard the aircraft. The captain must review the Aircraft Maintenance and Flight Records in order to determine the aircraft’s airworthiness prior to flight. (The captain is not to accept an aircraft having any “open write-ups,” or unresolved maintenance issues.) Once satisfied that any maintenance issues have been properly addressed, he or she signs the records, signifying acceptance of the aircraft for flight. While
Exterior preflight check of a turbine aircraft includes many of the same items you’re used to from piston models (Figure 12.2). The condition of fuselage skin, windows, and maintenance and cargo access doors must be checked, along with antennas, aircraft lights, and deice and anti-ice equipment. You’ll also be checking various system pressures, such as hydraulics, emergency oxygen, and fire-extinguishing bottles. (Gauges are often located in wheel wells or compartments where they’re hard to read. Pilots quickly learn to carry a good-quality flashlight on preflight.) Turbine aircraft tend to have more outside covers and locks than are normally found on light airplanes. External gust locks are sometimes installed on control surfaces for longer-term parking, as are engine inlet and pitot tube covers. Forgetting any of these things on preflight can kill you . . . and most are not visible from the cockpit! Propeller tiedowns (prop ties) are often installed on free-turbine turboprops for parking, in order to prevent propellers from “blowin’ in the wind.” One other important preflight item is to check for removal of gear pins. These devices, which are installed for parking on many larger aircraft, are lock-down pins inserted into the strut or retraction mechanism of each landing gear. Taking off with gear pins installed is both embarrassing and
