<< >> NASA ASRS Report 1308730, November 2015

Grob glider instructor reported taking off without the total energy probe installed; so they were without all flight instruments.

Attributes
ACN	1308730
Time
Date	201511
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Sail Plane
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Takeoff
Flight Plan	None
Person 1
Function	Instructor Pilot Not Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 13 Flight Crew Total 299 Flight Crew Type 104
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Procedural FAR Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy

Narrative:

Glider used for training flight had been disassembled for polishing and waxing. After assembly; student pilot and instructor rushed preflight inspection to fly ship before sunset and took off without total energy probe installed. Without te (total energy) probe; no instruments (airspeed/altimeter/vertical speed) were operable. Missing probe was not corrected by assembly crew; pilots; instructor who signed off assembly check; or club safety manager at the flight line. Pilots noticed inoperable instruments in flight and landed safely without reference to instruments. Inadequate preflight inspection especially failure to follow written checklist is the most obvious cause. External pressure to fly also was a factor. The club instructing should also teach better adm (aeronautical decision making) for the go/no-go decision using the pave and imsafe checklists.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Grob glider instructor reported taking off without the total energy probe installed; so they were without all flight instruments.

Narrative: Glider used for training flight had been disassembled for polishing and waxing. After assembly; student pilot and instructor rushed preflight inspection to fly ship before sunset and took off without total energy probe installed. Without TE (Total Energy) probe; no instruments (airspeed/altimeter/vertical speed) were operable. Missing probe was not corrected by assembly crew; pilots; instructor who signed off assembly check; or club safety manager at the flight line. Pilots noticed inoperable instruments in flight and landed safely without reference to instruments. Inadequate preflight inspection especially failure to follow written checklist is the most obvious cause. External pressure to fly also was a factor. The club instructing should also teach better ADM (Aeronautical Decision Making) for the go/no-go decision using the PAVE and IMSAFE checklists.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site 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.