Locked in a Hawker

[IFLYHI]

So there I was.... on the ramp in ACK last night trying to open the door on the shiny new 900XP (300 hours) that I fly. Door handle wouldn't budge.... CEO standing in the galley waiting to get off... I was perplexed to say the least! So we called the FBO on the radio and asked them to send someone out to try to open it from the outside. He comes out, tries to open it and says "It's locked". "Not possible", said I, but we passed the keys out the window anyway in a last ditch effort, as we were running out of ideas. Turns out the door WAS LOCKED.

After investigating the situation, we determined that it is possible in our airplane to close the door with the handle locking pin extended in the locked position. Our mechanic (who closed the door for us on departure) apparently had to push slightly harder than normal, but the door handle deflects to the right (aft) enough to allow it to pass by the pin receptacle (the six sided nut) and go into the hole. We also found that the door can be opened from the outside (when locked) by pulling the handle to the right and out at the same time.

The maintenance diagram shows a clearance limit between the door handle and the lock receptacle. I think it is .003 to .0048 inches. Ours exceeds the upper limit, so the fix is to add a washer and shim the receptacle out, which hopefully will solve the issue. In the meantime, we've removed the locking pin and MEL'ed the lock.

This was certainly a first for me... Locked inside my airplane!

 

[Fly91]

That could be bad if you ever had to get out fast. New plane, messed up door, I'd be on the phone to DA.

 

[BEfly]

Funny how sh!t like that always/only happens with the VIP on board.

 

[NCherches]

At least you have an APU if you have to camp out for awhile...

 

[hawkerjet]

I got locked in a Merlin before flying newspapers from Long Beach to Grand Junction. We flew through quite a bit of ice and the door froze shut. After about 20 minutes of hot water the door finally opened. It was my seond flight in a Merlin.

 

[willNOTfly4free]

At least you have an APU if you have to camp out for awhile...

I'm sure the Hawker has an emergency exit if it were needed...

 

[filejw]

Thats the kind of thing that needs to be reported to the manufacture. I'm and airline guy so i don't know what avenue you should take to report this put this sounds important enough for a prompt report.

 

[IFLYHI]

I'm sure the Hawker has an emergency exit if it were needed...

It certainly does, but I wasn't looking forward to asking the CEO to extricate himself from the aircraft in that manner!

 

[LJ45]

It certainly does, but I wasn't looking forward to asking the CEO to extricate himself from the aircraft in that manner!

You could have used it and with one pilot inside and one outside the door may get opened.

 

[IFLYHI]

You could have used it and with one pilot inside and one outside the door may get opened.

It was easier to hand the key to the lineman and have him unlock it. BTW, is reinstalling the emergency exit in a Hawker a maintenance function or can the crew do that?...Anyone?.....Anyone?.....Bueller?

 

[gutshotdraw]

In the Hawker 700, if you had the APU running and the APU air on, you didn't leave the airplane and close the door. If you did, you wouldn't get back in until the APU flamed out from fuel exhaustion or you climbed into the hellhole and disconnected the APU control box. Too much air pressure on the inside of the plug type door.

 

[MauleSkinner]

Just as an FYI, those Hawker locks work just fine the other way, too...We got our locked airplane broken into by some high school kids looking for booze once. It takes me all of 5 seconds to get the handle out when it's locked.

That reminds me...Gotta talk to our new mech about making something to prevent that...the old one left before he got it done.

Fly safe!

David

 

[400A]

In the Hawker 700, if you had the APU running and the APU air on, you didn't leave the airplane and close the door. If you did, you wouldn't get back in until the APU flamed out from fuel exhaustion or you climbed into the hellhole and disconnected the APU control box. Too much air pressure on the inside of the plug type door.

I did not do differences, does turning on #1 inverter not power the fan that prevents that(if all is working) like on the 800XP?

 

[NYYfan]

I cant remember about which inverter powers it but that shouldnt matter. Just crack the DV window a hair and you wont have that problem if you need to close the main door. I dont think putting the emergency exit back in is a mx function just more of a pain

 

[gutshotdraw]

We were under orders not to open the DV window (might cause leaks in wet weather they said). As to the #1 inverter powering a fan, it's been 12 years now since my last Hawker recurrent but I think that was an improvement on the 800 not available on the 'ol 700.

 

[MauleSkinner]

As to the #1 inverter powering a fan, it's been 12 years now since my last Hawker recurrent but I think that was an improvement on the 800 not available on the 'ol 700.

That AC-powered venturi fan goes at least back through the 400's.

Fly safe!

David

 

[AV8R N8]

The 700 has an ac powered fan-operated venturi. Its on the XS2 bus. As long as your Inverters are on and the PRESS GEAR SW is Auto, the cabin will not pressurize.

 

[waka]

We were under orders not to open the DV window (might cause leaks in wet weather they said). As to the #1 inverter powering a fan, it's been 12 years now since my last Hawker recurrent but I think that was an improvement on the 800 not available on the 'ol 700.

Screw that! I'm of the camp that thinks you're better off opening and closing an airplane window to prevent leaks.....it exercises the seals.

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

Hawkers keys have always been strange

When I flew the 400s and 700s, we never locked the A/C. The key was kind of strange and a special allow or something. It could only be replaced from one location in Europe and was very expensive.

I never had a problem with pressurization on the ground with the APU air running, but I never closed the door completely either. The APU was very loud on the older models when using the air.

Other than the key issue, do you like the new model??

Do tell!

 

[TimsKeeper]

locked out

This thread got off-topic pretty quick. The problem is not associated with the venturi fan. This problem is a locking mechanism issue.

That happened several time on an 800XP I used to fly. It would get locked and we would have to hand the keys out to the line guys.

Took our maintenance a couple times to get it right but they finally found some solution (unfortunately I wasn't in the loop what that was).