A gust lock on an aircraft is a mechanism that locks control surfaces and keeps open aircraft doors in place while the aircraft is parked on the ground and non-operational. Gust locks prevent wind from causing unexpected movements of the control surfaces and their linked controls inside the aircraft, as well as aircraft doors on some aircraft; otherwise, wind gusts could cause possible damage to the control surfaces and systems, or to nearby people, cargo, or machinery. Some gust locks are external devices attached directly to the aircraft's control surfaces, while others are attached to the relevant flight controls inside the cockpit.
A gust lock can pose a serious safety hazard if it is not disengaged before an aircraft's takeoff, because it renders the flight control inoperative. Many internal gust locks have a safety feature that locks out the aircraft's throttle or engine-start controls until removed and stowed. External-only gust locks typically lack this safety feature, and must be tagged with a large red remove before flight streamer.
The prototype of the B-17 crashed on October 30, 1935
The first Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress ever built, the initial Model 299 aircraft, was lost in just this way on October 30, 1935, when its gust locks were left engaged, with the resulting crash killing Boeing chief test pilot Leslie Tower and United States Army Air Corps test pilot Ployer Peter Hill.[1] Less than a year later, German Luftwaffe GeneralleutnantWalter Wever lost his life in a similar accident from gust lock neglect, when his Heinkel He 70Blitz monoplane crashed on June 3, 1936, from the Blitz's aileron gust locks not being disengaged before takeoff.[citation needed]Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden, the American singer and actress Grace Moore and 20 others were killed in 1947 during the crash of a KLM flight at Copenhagen Airport due to the flight crew forgetting to disengage the gust lock on the elevators of the aircraft. In 1977 the crash of Air Indiana Flight 216 occurred due to failure to remove the gust locks.
A C-124 transport carrying US servicemen home for Christmas crashed in 1952 due to engagement of gust locks.
Dan-Air Flight 0034, a Hawker Siddeley 748 series 1 (registration G-BEKF) operating an oil industry support flight crashed on July 31, 1979 at Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Islands. The aircraft failed to become airborne, ran through the perimeter fence, and crashed into the sea. The accident was due to the elevator gust lock having become re-engaged, preventing the aircraft from rotating into a flying attitude. The aircraft was destroyed and 17 of the 47 people on board drowned.
On July 24, 2021, in Lewiston, Idaho, former Naval Aviator and F-14 Tomcat pilot Dale Snodgrass was killed when the plane he was piloting crashed due to loss of control on takeoff caused by the gust lock not being removed before the flight.[5]
^Doyle, David (2020). B-17 Flying Fortress, Vol. 1: Boeing's Model 299 through B-17D in World War II. Atglen: Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. pp. 6–7. ISBN9780764359552.
"Gust lock". The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation and Space. Vol. 6. Los Angeles: A.F.E. Press. 1971. p. 1043. LCCN 68014013.
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Media related to Gust locks at Wikimedia Commons
January 01, 1970
gust, lock, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, july, 2022, lea. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Gust lock news newspapers books scholar JSTOR July 2022 Learn how and when to remove this template message A gust lock on an aircraft is a mechanism that locks control surfaces and keeps open aircraft doors in place while the aircraft is parked on the ground and non operational Gust locks prevent wind from causing unexpected movements of the control surfaces and their linked controls inside the aircraft as well as aircraft doors on some aircraft otherwise wind gusts could cause possible damage to the control surfaces and systems or to nearby people cargo or machinery Some gust locks are external devices attached directly to the aircraft s control surfaces while others are attached to the relevant flight controls inside the cockpit Gust lock on a rudder Contents 1 Safety 2 See also 3 References 4 External linksSafety editA gust lock can pose a serious safety hazard if it is not disengaged before an aircraft s takeoff because it renders the flight control inoperative Many internal gust locks have a safety feature that locks out the aircraft s throttle or engine start controls until removed and stowed External only gust locks typically lack this safety feature and must be tagged with a large red remove before flight streamer nbsp The prototype of the B 17 crashed on October 30 1935 The first Boeing B 17 Flying Fortress ever built the initial Model 299 aircraft was lost in just this way on October 30 1935 when its gust locks were left engaged with the resulting crash killing Boeing chief test pilot Leslie Tower and United States Army Air Corps test pilot Ployer Peter Hill 1 Less than a year later German Luftwaffe Generalleutnant Walter Wever lost his life in a similar accident from gust lock neglect when his Heinkel He 70 Blitz monoplane crashed on June 3 1936 from the Blitz s aileron gust locks not being disengaged before takeoff citation needed Prince Gustaf Adolf of Sweden the American singer and actress Grace Moore and 20 others were killed in 1947 during the crash of a KLM flight at Copenhagen Airport due to the flight crew forgetting to disengage the gust lock on the elevators of the aircraft In 1977 the crash of Air Indiana Flight 216 occurred due to failure to remove the gust locks A C 124 transport carrying US servicemen home for Christmas crashed in 1952 due to engagement of gust locks Dan Air Flight 0034 a Hawker Siddeley 748 series 1 registration G BEKF operating an oil industry support flight crashed on July 31 1979 at Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Islands The aircraft failed to become airborne ran through the perimeter fence and crashed into the sea The accident was due to the elevator gust lock having become re engaged preventing the aircraft from rotating into a flying attitude The aircraft was destroyed and 17 of the 47 people on board drowned On August 27 1992 at Gimli Industrial Park Airport a modified version of the DHC 4 Caribou crashed due to a design flaw which permitted the gust locks to engage during take off 2 3 On May 31 2014 a gust lock left in place caused the crash of a Gulfstream IV at Hanscom Field killing Philadelphia Inquirer co owner Lewis Katz as well as six others 4 On July 24 2021 in Lewiston Idaho former Naval Aviator and F 14 Tomcat pilot Dale Snodgrass was killed when the plane he was piloting crashed due to loss of control on takeoff caused by the gust lock not being removed before the flight 5 See also editRemove before flight Lists of aviation topics List of aviation avionics aerospace and aeronautical abbreviationsReferences edit Doyle David 2020 B 17 Flying Fortress Vol 1 Boeing s Model 299 through B 17D in World War II Atglen Schiffer Publishing Ltd pp 6 7 ISBN 9780764359552 ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland Canada DHC 4T Caribou N400NC Gimli Airport MB YGM Tech Support Forum NTSB Pilots left wing controls locked in place in Gulfstream crash that killed 7 USA Today CAROL Query investigations July 2021 Data ntsb gov Retrieved 2022 08 19 not specific enough to verify Gust lock The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Aviation and Space Vol 6 Los Angeles A F E Press 1971 p 1043 LCCN 68014013 External links edit nbsp Media related to Gust locks at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gust lock amp oldid 1214955439, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
