Can a mechanic who works on your plane refuse to sign it off or put it back together? That’s exactly what happened to one unfortunate Cirrus SR22 owner who made a precautionary landing due to a rough running engine, asked the maintenance personnel at the local FBO to investigate, and found himself in a hostage situation. Mike Busch A&P/IA explains the regulatory ramifications of such a situation, and discusses what it took to get this poor owner’s airplane out of prison. Savvy Aviation offers Professional Maintenance Services to owners of General Aviation aircraft, such as: SavvyMx (Professional Maintenance Management including Prebuy Services), SavvyQA (Expert Consulting), SavvyAnalysis (Engine Data Analysis) and Breakdown Assistance. Savvy also publishes a monthly newsletter with lots of interesting information for the general aviation enthusiast; subscribe to it at text the word “Savvy” to 33777. This webinar was hosted by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).
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I like how Mike quotes what the regulations ACTUALLY say. And if you go check it, that's what they say. I do go check it.
This sounds like 90% of all automotive repair shops in the country. Totally unacceptable in aviation! The mechanics and DOM involved should have been fired period. I remember watching service techs in the automotive industry raping customers all the time to meet maintenance quotas required by the companies. Absurd that it is common practice in the automotive world but its just totally unacceptable in aviation. We , in aviation, are help to a higher standard and the whistle should be blown loud and clear when instances like this occur. Was this incompetence or just blatantly trying to make money off of unnecessary maintenance? A good honest A&P is hard to find nowadays. Thank goodness we have experimental aircraft now . We are coming to a point where legacy GA airplanes will be almost impossible to legally keep in the air because of the lack of parts and the lack of experienced mechanics to work on them. The modern A&P certificate is worthless without experience and schools mainly turn out students to satisfy the airlines and corporate aviation. The knowledgeable GA technician is a dying breed.
What the failure to do the mag check tells me is this pilot and the other’s Mike referenced are NOT following their engine fault emergency check list. I kept mine clipped to my kneeboard and the few times I had a rough engine, I followed the checklist even though I was pretty sure it was an ignition issue due to the rapid onset. Qref and Checkmate both provide laminated and electronic versions of their checklists – I’ve used both (still prefer the laminated version).
I guess in part because my CFI took me task every time I went by memory instead of a positive verbal readout/check off from the emergency checklists. The DFI, also checked that I did this which may be why the CFI was stringent about it.
IMO, even if you are running emergency drills in your normal weekly practice flights (being current does not insure proficiency), you are going to get flustered and forget/skip things in the real advent unless you have drilled yourself to use your checklists.
IMO, as interesting as this episode is, the most troubling aspect to me is the pilot declared an emergency without going through his. checklists. That it would have avoided his issues is nice, but in a REAL emergency, failure to follow his emergency checklists could make the difference between gliding to a safe on or off field landing, and making a hole in the ground.
Mike. Why do they even need to make entry in logbook. This was not repair. Was simple inspection. U said that on your previous podcast. 2nd. If myself as owner. Wanted to put it back together. There should be nothing stopping me to do that? Right?
The knowledge of Mike Busch is truly staggering. When this guy finally hangs his hat up the aviation community will lose a titan, both in knowledge base and pilot advocacy. I hope Savvy finds a worth replacement for him, probably impossible. Until then, I will continue to appreciate these videos and his unselfish use of his time.
Great lesson here. Thanks for the video
A shop like this exist at KCPT.
Is there a reason why they make the mag gear out of plastic? You think it would be a more durable material
"My nickel on the grass."
The shop didn't do MUCH more than what an owner is authorised to do.
As soon as borescope images were taken, then it was clear a spark issue was present in cylinder two.🌏
P.s Thanks Mike, great topic and presentation.
I figured a bad mag at your first description. It’s a shame the owner didn’t think mag, especially since he had previous mag issues. A simple flip of the switch and he could have flown home and avoided all this trouble!
I hope he did not pay any money for only taking the aircraft apart.
I live in Ca. Shops like this are all to common here. I have had full time employment for over 40 years as a IA including DOM for part 125 and 135 operations. I had a recent similar experience where I was at the mercy of the local FBO with my C310 in Tulare. It can happen to anybody.
Friends of mine were in their citabria when it started running rough. They put the airplane into a field, successfully. Then they did a mag check 🤦🏻♂️, which failed. Then they flew it out on one mag to an airport and made repairs. So as you say this is quite common. Pilots just want to get on the ground asap, even with a rough running engine, when the simple turn of a switch would smooth it out.
I always thought that if your engine is running rough you switch tanks, fiddle with carb heat or alternate air, enrichen the mixture, and reduce the power, as Mark did. Then you turn off one of the mags. If the roughness goes away, leave it off and land as soon as practicable. If the engine quits, turn it back on and repeat with the other mag. If the roughness never goes away, leave both mags on and land as soon as possible. If Mark had taken the bad magneto off line he would have had his diagnosis while still airborne.
Was that a S-1200 mag ?
all that to find a broken magneto???
I was always taught that the first thing to check with a rough running engine is spark timing. Pull the cords off, make sure that spark is happening and that it happens at the correct timing…. simplest diagnostic procedure possible on any spark-ignition engine. No reason not to do it as the very first check ANY time there is ANY issue with the way the engine runs….
I swear, some of these "repair stations" are worse than taking the plane to WalMart Auto Center would be.
I had the same thing happen to me on my 2007 Cirrus. I was taking a short initial training flight with a CFI, warmed up the engine, did run up and mag check, then took off. There was a vibration on takeoff, we both felt like it was the nose wheel wobbling a little, neither of us had any significant history with the airplane so we were not sure. Turns out it was the engine running rough. #6 CHT started climbing rapidly, we returned to the airport immediately and landed. Then did a little troubleshooting before shutting down. Did a mag check and the right mag was dead. With my A&P we found the same gear problem in the mag. This problem causes the right mag to fire only on the cylinder that the broken gear is pointed to with the timing being where ever the gear stopped at.
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