This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.
My plane, a high wing Cessna 182Q, was parked between two big business class jets.
I had just started my engine when one of the ground crew walked in front of me (about 35 feet) and stopped right in front of me. I thought that she was trying to marshal me out from between the two bigger jets. However, it was confusing because, even though she was directly in front of me, she did not look directly at me.
Between the tall vertical stabilizer/rudder of the big jet next to me and my high wing I could not see anything to my left.
When I eased out from my space, I was looking for something on the ground that I needed to avoid. When I cleared the big fin and turned enough that I could look up past my wing, I saw that there was a helicopter coming in to land. I STOPPED.
When the helicopter continued to hover and then backed up, I took that as a signal from the helo pilot that I should complete the turn and clear the area. I did.
Once I cleared the area, I moved to a different area on the ramp and called the FBO on Unicom to let them know what happened.
A couple of minutes later, I also talked to Ground and reported what had happened.
I don’t know the state of the ground crew after me spotting the helo. I was solely focused on the helo.
Lessons learned: When a situation seems confusing, go slowly. When I spotted the helo, I was going really slowly and was able to quickly stop. Only when it was clear that the helo pilot was waiting for me to move did I finish my turn.
I believe that the helo could have continued to a landing but it was better that he backed up and allowed me to clear the area.
The ground crew needs to be more aware of the state of the other planes in the area. Even though I started my engine as she was walking into position (in front of me), it was clear (in retrospect) that she did not even know that I was about to move.
If she had been aware that my engine was started, she could have indicated to me that I needed to stay where I was (or even cut my engine). In retrospect, I should have realized that the situation was confusing and waited a little bit longer for things to become clearer.
Recommendations: Better training for the ground crew. Especially on situational awareness. My plane had been the focus of significant activity while I packed the baggage, did the preflight, loaded oil, etc. It had been clear for 30-plus minutes that I was getting ready to leave. It should not have been a surprise that my engine was starting. A simple “stop” hand signal would have been enough to let me know that she knew that I was there and that she needed me to stay put.
Primary Problem: Human Factors
ACN: 2144194
