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Travelair pilot reports window leak that soaked chart manual causing difficulties during reroute. Autopilot became disengaged inadvertently causing altitude loss and course deviation in IMC.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 838875 |
| Time | |
| Date | 200906 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | N90.TRACON |
| State Reference | NY |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | IMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | Travelair 95 |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Flight Plan | IFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Cockpit Window |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Private |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 50 Flight Crew Total 500 Flight Crew Type 170 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude Deviation - Procedural Clearance Deviation - Track / Heading All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence |
Narrative:
Upon departure we had a window leak from the rain and really soaked our low altitude chart book. The water bled through and stuck all the pages together making it very tough to turn the pages. The route was loaded in the GPS so I felt confident to proceed. Soon after a reroute was given. Upon trying to fuss with the pages of the book my left forearm hit the autopilot disengage button while in turbulence. The aircraft rolled and if I remember right dove to the right. I recovered at approximately 450 ft of altitude loss and 40 degrees of course deviation in solid IMC. I immediately contacted control and asked for an altitude block stating that we are getting pretty beat up with the weather. I took measures to re-established course. This was real learning experience for me and I have changed my operational procedures to never reach over the yoke with the left hand as it is very easy to hit the autopilot disengage in rough air without even realizing it. I will also take care to keep the maps on the left side of the cabin to ensure that an inadequately sealed window does not leak on my maps. After deflating and re-inflating the seal the leak ceased.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: Travelair pilot reports window leak that soaked chart manual causing difficulties during reroute. Autopilot became disengaged inadvertently causing altitude loss and course deviation in IMC.
Narrative: Upon departure we had a window leak from the rain and really soaked our low altitude chart book. The water bled through and stuck all the pages together making it very tough to turn the pages. The route was loaded in the GPS so I felt confident to proceed. Soon after a reroute was given. Upon trying to fuss with the pages of the book my left forearm hit the autopilot disengage button while in turbulence. The aircraft rolled and if I remember right dove to the right. I recovered at approximately 450 FT of altitude loss and 40 degrees of course deviation in solid IMC. I immediately contacted control and asked for an altitude block stating that we are getting pretty beat up with the weather. I took measures to re-established course. This was real learning experience for me and I have changed my operational procedures to never reach over the yoke with the left hand as it is very easy to hit the autopilot disengage in rough air without even realizing it. I will also take care to keep the maps on the left side of the cabin to ensure that an inadequately sealed window does not leak on my maps. After deflating and re-inflating the seal the leak ceased.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.