This is a weird accident…
But this gustlock explanation is only a theory. It is not confirmed. On PPRuNe there is a long thread evolving around it right now.
There are some GA planes on which this is possible, but surely not many?
So far I have only flown one type of aeroplane with external gustlocks that could not be removed once inside: On some older Cessna 421 types, the rudder lock is a mechanical device inserted between rudder and fuselage. But you will notice that immediately after starting to taxi because your nosewheel steering will not work well. And if you kick the pedal hard, you will probably break a control cable or link. If you then still don’t remember the forgotten lock you will have no rudder control which will usually not kill you.
How does this work on airbus aircraft, where the stick setting isn’t selecting a aileron/elevator position, but rather a rate of turn/pitch?
Do you put he control fully forward and way a screen to see if it did move fully forward? Or does the aircraft have a self diagnostic and checks these things for you?
Lots of older light aircraft have control locks consisting of two plates connected with a short string that sandwiches the joint between aileron and wing.
It’s a different world when you get to powered controls and the sort of system complexity of a Gulfstream
Still, its quite baffling that a crew with that experience didn’t check the controls. I do it and always have from my days in K13 gliders onwards. Mind you, there are some strange practices out there, I have seen videos shot by professional pilots where they let go of the yoke immediately after landing and never touch it during taxiing. That’s alien to me, I could not move in an aeroplane without a hand on the control wheel or stick.
@ dublinpilot
with the side stick you command a load-factor … so hands off you fly 1g. But of course the side stick controls and moves the flight control surfaces. For a flight control check on the ground you select the ECAM F/CTL Page (ECAM = Electronic Centralized Aircraft Monitoring) and you see all the details of the system on a screen and the controls moving … everything green – with some inherent fault it gets amber
You can do so on a Piper PA-31, as well on Socata TB-10/20 and most single engine Cessna’s?
See this report where the commercial two pilot crew tried to take off with internal control lock was still installed:
http://www.bea-fr.org/docspa/2001/ph-d010322a/htm/ph-d010322a.html
You can’t insert the key into the ignition on a Socata TB if the yoke lock is in place – unless you have fabricated some kind of a “custom” locking bar, or shoved a screwdriver in there, which would make you a good candidate for a Darwin Award.
How hardened do you have to be to say: “I cannot…believe it….it’s all over” in such a dead-pan way??
How does this work on airbus aircraft, where the stick setting isn’t selecting a aileron/elevator position, but rather a rate of turn/pitch?
Do you need gust locks anyway on an aircraft with hydraulically actuated, or even FBW flight controls? Wouldn’t the hydraulic pistons prevent the flight surfaces from (uncommanded) movement?
