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straight ahead. They were developed in response to the ubiquitous tail- dragger phenomena of the ground loop. Due to the center of gravity being behind the main gear, once a taildragger begins to rotate, the leverage of its mass makes the rota- tion difficult to stop. By increasing stability, tailwheel locks reduce the likelihood of a ground loop but also decrease maneuverability. By design, it is difficult to turn with a locked tailwheel. L12A manuals specifically state that the tailwheel lock (when installed) should be engaged for all takeoffs and landings.
It takes only a small distraction to forget a deferred item on a before- takeoff checklist. The simple act of being on camera was one such dis- traction. Fixation on the status of the f laps was another. Aggravating this, a failure to lock the tailwheel does not, in and of itself, represent an existential risk. Indeed, the tail- wheel lock on the Electra Junior is
an optional piece of equipment. Yet it was clear from previous videos posted by Glenn that his habit was to lock the tailwheel before takeoff and unlock it after slowing to taxi speed following landing. The need to defer locking the tailwheel until aligned with the runway set him up for error. Filming unassociated footage was the fuse. If you were to judge the slipup by the outcome—a mangled aircraft with three in intensive care—you would be at risk of judging the pilots too harshly.
That is not all there is to it. There was that leaking right strut. The Lock- heed had not flown since a mechanic had fixed it. Glenn filmed the proce- dure and posted it to YouTube. In the video, he discussed two options for unloading the strut for the procedure. One of them involved disconnect- ing the right brake line. The system utilized a flexible hose connected to a rigid line to supply hydraulic pres- sure to the right brake. Following
the crash, the NTSB discovered that the connector was only finger-tight. They also found brake fluid on the right gear assembly.
Per Dan: “During taxi out, we had good brakes, and I helped [Glenn] hold the brakes during the run-up... it takes a lot of leg pressure to hold that thing...so I had my toes up on top of both pedals, and they were both equally rock hard... After gear retrac- tion, something changed. We would not have gone flying if there was any kind of anomaly in the brake.”
Distractions on
the Flight Deck
Filming is a distraction. So is be- ing filmed. Distractions increase the risk of error. Filming during f light can be meaningless. Chasing after a “like” on social media is a dumb way to ding an airplane. It is an empty tragedy when it leads to a fatality. Yet what about filming in the inter- est of safety? The FAA routinely is-
26 • TWIN & TURBINE / September 2024
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