The obvious answer is: Always the pilot. However, at larger airports where one will usually be met by a marshaller upon arrival who will throw a pair of chocks under the nose wheel and tell you to leave the parking brake disengaged. Clearly, they want to be able to move the plane for whatever reasons. In case that happens I can’t see how the pilot can be responsible any longer. But if I am responsible I would at least want to be able engage the parking brake.
I think you may be conflating two scenarios here.
- one, where YOU park the airplane at a stand that the marshaller directs you to, but otherwise doesn’t get involved
- the other, where you leave the plane at an FBO and THEY park it wherever they want.
My take would be your responsibility in the first, the FBO in the second scenario.
Of course you are right. I didn’t give too much thought to the second case because it seemed logical to me that whoever touches the airplane is responsible for it.
But for the other case: Isn’t don’t lock the brakes already a kind of involvement?
Locking brakes is IMHO a really really bad idea because the plane may need moving for a really good reason. Never ever do that…
It also won’t help with wind because wind will just rock it over time.
I also tend to look at the practical aspect: any dispute with an airport will likely result in you being kicked out of there. Aviation is like that… Same with a prop strike; I had one in 2002 and the then management slagged me off to everybody. All different people now.
Peter wrote:
Locking brakes is IMHO a really really bad idea because the plane may need moving for a really good reason. Never ever do that…
Absolutely. Years ago I was parked at Osijek LDOS when late in the evening a fire broke from near by field and just swarmed through the airport fence. Luckily the people from local flight company were in their hangar and pushed all the planes including mine to the taxiway just when the fire reached their hangar and when fire brigade started to put the fire off. It was so fast and violent that fire brigade, located H24 at the airport, barely reached the spot on time.
