Av Hazard publicizes safety and operational concerns to help prevent accidents but it works only if we hear from you. Use the postage-free Av Hazard card to describe the hazard and return it to Pro Pilot. To obtain an official FAA review send NASA an ASRS form. For immediate action, call the airport, FBO, ATC, FSDO or the 24-hour FAA Safety Hotline at 800-255-1111. Note: Telephone numbers for all US Towers and ARTCCs are published in Ac-U-Kwik and Pilots Express Airport/Heliport/FBO directories. To report safety concerns outside the US, contact ICAO HQ at 514-954-8219 or via fax at 514-954-6077. ICAO has worldwide telephone and fax numbers to expedite Av Hazard reports to civil aviation authorities.
Unannounced F16s overfly drop zone
We are the skydiving operation at 2IS (Clewiston FL). While most of the time communication with Unicom and Miami Center prevents aircraft from overflying the airport, we learned the other day that the military does not talk to civilian ATC, as an F16 flew right over the airport at high speed just as I was about to drop jumpers. I believe the military should not fly over skydiving activities unless they are communicating with someone.
__ATP, King Air 90
- Military Training Route IR20 passes west to east 1 mile north of 2IS, according to the VFR Sectional. Military training routes allow military aircraft to practice all weather maneuvers like aircraft intercept and can exceed 250 kts while on the training route—generally below 10,000 MSL. IR20 is supposed to be flown between 6000 and 8000 ft and can be flown in VMC, but it is flown under military instrument rules, hence the “IR” designation. The pilot should be talking with Miami Center in that area but, as any aircraft can do on a VFR day, it is not required. This Av Hazard report was sent to the USAF Safety Center to remind pilots of the skydiving hazard at 2IS. The reporter did not state the altitude of the fighter so we are not able to determine if it was outside the altitude restrictions of the route. The route width symbol on the chart (thin line) indicates the route is less than 5 nm wide, so the aircraft was within the route.
Fuel problems at K02
A turbocharged Cessna conducting photo flight operations landed at K02 (Perryville MO) to refuel. The city has closed the FBO and refuses to provide fuel. The Cessna pilot had the VFR reserves required, but without fuel it was questionable if he could make it to the next airport for fuel. We helped the guy and drained fuel from another plane so he had legal and safe reserves to fly on. The city has accepted federal money and only keeps the airport open for the tax base at the Sabreliner repair facility. Charts and the GPS both show that the airport has fuel.
__Comm, PA24 Comanche
- After a quick review of the FAA Airport Facility Directory and the VFR Sectional, both indicate there is no fuel at K02. The GPS database mentioned above cannot be checked but, if the federal publications show no fuel, it is very likely the current GPS database available today will coincide with the paper publications. If they don’t, the above pilot should contact the FAA Hotline concerning the safety issue. CFR Part 91.103 requires that all pilots shall, before beginning any flight, become familiar with all available information concerning the flight. CFR Part 91.151 describes fuel requirements for VFR flight.
The photo pilot should have been monitoring the fuel burn more closely and double-checked to ensure that the airport he intended to use actually had fuel available at his time of arrival if running the fuel lower than normal. As to draining fuel from one airplane to place in another aircraft, gallant as it may sound, it may not be the safest thing to do. If you drain it from the sumps—normally the lowest point in the tank—there is no telling what you are taking from one aircraft and placing into another. That is, of course, unless the fuel was strained first prior to introducing into the second aircraft, in which case that could be acceptable.