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While preparing to depart a non towered airport; the pilot of a C-140 taxied onto the runway forcing a twin on short final to go around.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1021430 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201207 |
| Local Time Of Day | 1201-1800 |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Cessna 140 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | None |
| Aircraft 2 | |
| Make Model Name | Any Unknown or Unlisted Aircraft Manufacturer |
| Flight Phase | Landing |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Air/Ground Communication |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 100 Flight Crew Total 20000 Flight Crew Type 35 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Conflict Ground Conflict Less Severe Ground Event / Encounter Other / Unknown Ground Incursion Runway |
| Miss Distance | Vertical 300 |
Narrative:
I was taxiing out to depart a non towered paved airport with grass taxiways serving residential homes. I had noticed prior to getting into the aircraft that a light twin had done a low pass over the runway in a northerly direction (wind was light out of the north). After starting; I taxied down the taxiway (oriented perpendicular to the runway and intersecting it about 1;000 ft from the south end) and stopped at the end; prior to crossing the runway to join the paved parallel taxiway on the far side. At this point I turned my tailwheel aircraft to the south; then the north to check for runway traffic. After turning north; my tailwheel got stuck in a small depression in the taxiway; delaying my crossing of the runway momentarily. By the time I got across the runway; I had become too close to a light twin on final; who was forced to go-around. It surprised me how quickly he appeared; as it did not seem that long since I had cleared final prior to starting across. Perhaps the twin; with his faster approach speed was a factor that I didn't fully account for; but I had no indication that he was on final or even still in the pattern. This airport sees virtually no twin engine/faster traffic. It also has tall trees surrounding the runway; with a dogleg area on final that doesn't have trees; so perhaps the traffic was slightly west of final on the dogleg. Finally; my radio was (I later discovered) only working intermittently. I had not received the conflicting traffic pattern callouts.lessons learned for me: double and triple check final; instead of just one time (I normally do this; but inexplicably didn't this one time). Secondly; expect the unexpected; especially at uncontrolled airports. Finally; I had suspected the radio problem prior to this flight; but what I hadn't expected was it being intermittent. When it worked on startup; I thought that there wasn't a problem; when actually there was; just a different one than I thought.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: While preparing to depart a non towered airport; the pilot of a C-140 taxied onto the runway forcing a twin on short final to go around.
Narrative: I was taxiing out to depart a non towered paved airport with grass taxiways serving residential homes. I had noticed prior to getting into the aircraft that a light twin had done a low pass over the runway in a northerly direction (wind was light out of the north). After starting; I taxied down the taxiway (oriented perpendicular to the runway and intersecting it about 1;000 FT from the south end) and stopped at the end; prior to crossing the runway to join the paved parallel taxiway on the far side. At this point I turned my tailwheel aircraft to the south; then the north to check for runway traffic. After turning north; my tailwheel got stuck in a small depression in the taxiway; delaying my crossing of the runway momentarily. By the time I got across the runway; I had become too close to a light twin on final; who was forced to go-around. It surprised me how quickly he appeared; as it did not seem that long since I had cleared final prior to starting across. Perhaps the twin; with his faster approach speed was a factor that I didn't fully account for; but I had no indication that he was on final or even still in the pattern. This airport sees virtually no twin engine/faster traffic. It also has tall trees surrounding the runway; with a dogleg area on final that doesn't have trees; so perhaps the traffic was slightly west of final on the dogleg. Finally; my radio was (I later discovered) only working intermittently. I had not received the conflicting traffic pattern callouts.Lessons learned for me: Double and triple check final; instead of just one time (I normally do this; but inexplicably didn't this one time). Secondly; expect the unexpected; especially at uncontrolled airports. Finally; I had suspected the radio problem prior to this flight; but what I hadn't expected was it being intermittent. When it worked on startup; I thought that there wasn't a problem; when actually there was; just a different one than I thought.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.