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Be-300 flight crew reported encountering an engine torque problem during taxi for takeoff.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1704711 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201911 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Super King Air 300 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Taxi |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Engine Control |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | First Officer Pilot Not Flying |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Flight Instructor Flight Crew Flight Engineer Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP) Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 200 Flight Crew Total 28000 Flight Crew Type 3500 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Deviation - Procedural Published Material / Policy |
Narrative:
I fly a king air 350/G1000 part time and an unusual event occurred that I think should be studied by the appropriate authority. I don't know another way to put this out there.while [we] were taxiing for takeoff; the rudder pedals seemed a bit too stiff and it was causing the aircraft to pull slightly to the right but that was overshadowed by another potential issue that was noted at the same time...the right torque indication was frozen at a fixed value of about 47%. We pulled off to the run-up area and after a discussion with the other pilot; we decided the aircraft was unairworthy since we could not determine the cause of the torque problem. Little discussion took place about the pedals/pulling since the torque reading was so clearly an issue.we turned the aircraft over to maintenance and reported the two issues. The mechanics focused immediately on the torque indication and almost seemed uninterested in the steering issue. They had just changed brake lines as part of a scheduled event; and the tire pressure was a bit low; so we left the aircraft with them thinking they had a logical explanation; and the two issues were unrelated.upon digging into the torque reading error they determined that deep within the engine the torque sensing oil line was likely clogged and after several maintenance procedures the problem went away; and the aircraft went back into service after a successful test flight. I did not hear a definitive cause; just speculation.in hindsight; to this pilot; it seems as though the bad torque reading triggered the activation of the rudder boost system; but due to the minimal force applied and the focus on the torque indication; I can see the potential for a life threatening problem for unsuspecting pilots if this were to occur at the wrong time or not handled properly. It might have been tempting to fly with a bad torque reading and not detect the rudder boost problem until it's too late. I don't have an MEL (minimum equipment list) available to me as I write this; but [I] assume that to some pilots the temptation/pressure to fly with just an 'indication' problem might lead to an accident.it has me thinking about two recent king air crashes that I read about and I feel it's my responsibility to bring this to someone's attention just in case there might be an insidious safety problem.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: BE-300 flight crew reported encountering an engine torque problem during taxi for takeoff.
Narrative: I fly a King Air 350/G1000 part time and an unusual event occurred that I think should be studied by the appropriate authority. I don't know another way to put this out there.While [we] were taxiing for takeoff; the rudder pedals seemed a bit too stiff and it was causing the aircraft to pull slightly to the right but that was overshadowed by another potential issue that was noted at the same time...the right torque indication was frozen at a fixed value of about 47%. We pulled off to the run-up area and after a discussion with the other pilot; we decided the aircraft was unairworthy since we could not determine the cause of the torque problem. Little discussion took place about the pedals/pulling since the torque reading was so clearly an issue.We turned the aircraft over to Maintenance and reported the two issues. The mechanics focused immediately on the torque indication and almost seemed uninterested in the steering issue. They had just changed brake lines as part of a scheduled event; and the tire pressure was a bit low; so we left the aircraft with them thinking they had a logical explanation; and the two issues were unrelated.Upon digging into the torque reading error they determined that deep within the engine the torque sensing oil line was likely clogged and after several maintenance procedures the problem went away; and the aircraft went back into service after a successful test flight. I did not hear a definitive cause; just speculation.In hindsight; to this pilot; it seems as though the bad torque reading triggered the activation of the rudder boost system; but due to the minimal force applied and the focus on the torque indication; I can see the potential for a life threatening problem for unsuspecting pilots if this were to occur at the wrong time or not handled properly. It might have been tempting to fly with a bad torque reading and not detect the rudder boost problem until it's too late. I don't have an MEL (Minimum Equipment List) available to me as I write this; but [I] assume that to some pilots the temptation/pressure to fly with just an 'indication' problem might lead to an accident.It has me thinking about two recent King Air crashes that I read about and I feel it's my responsibility to bring this to someone's attention just in case there might be an insidious safety problem.
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.