B l o w o u t ...
They say any landing you can walk away from is a good one. But a landing that includes an uncontrolled off-runway excursion might be an exception to that rule.
Imagine flying a normal approach to your home airport in your SR22 at 78 knots, full flaps, power off, tracking right down the runway centerline, wind calm, well below max gross. As you flare and your wheels kiss the pavement, the plane suddenly pulls sharply to the left and you lose directional control. (Pilots in the runup area will later say that they saw a puff of smoke from your left main tire when you touched down.)
Your aircraft takes out a runway marking sign and a runway light before coming to rest in a drainage ditch. You and your passengers are shaken but unhurt. You pull out your cell phone and place a call to your insurance agent.
Then an FAA inspector from the local FSDO shows up and asks you to give him your maintenance logbooks.
Now what do you do?
Fortunately, this Cirrus owner is a Savvy client...
...so he knew exactly what to do: He contacted his Savvy account manager, explained his predicament, and asked Savvy to guide him through the process of getting him back into the air.
Savvy's first action was to address the matter of the FAA inspector's request. We advised the owner that the inspector's only reason for requesting the aircraft's maintenance records was to determine if an FAA enforcement action was warranted, either against the owner or his mechanic. We strongly advised the owner not to provide the FAA inspector any maintenance records until (1) the inspector made a formal written request for them, and (2) the owner consulted with an aviation attorney to determine precisely what records to provide. (For example, there is usually no need to provide maintenance records older than one year, because FAR 91.417 doesn't require the owner to retain most records for more than one year.)
We asked the owner whether he was a member of the AOPA Legal Services Plan, and he said he was. Good answer! We advised the owner to call AOPA and get a Plan attorney to review the situation and advise him on his dealings with the FAA inspector. (As a Plan member, he's entitled to such legal advice at no charge.) We emphasized to the owner that no matter how nice the FAA inspector seemed and how friendly-looking his smile, the inspector was NOT the owner's new best friend, and the owner should carefully follow the attorney's advice before making any statements or providing any records to the inspector.
Savvy's next step was to assess the damage and develop a repair plan. We contacted the owner's insurance adjuster to let the adjuster know that Savvy would be representing the owner in his insurance claim arising out of this incident. We also researched the maintenance resources available to deal with the repair.
The closest Cirrus Authorized Service Center was just 50 miles away from the incident site. However, our due diligence indicated that this particular service center had limited capabilities to perform composite structural repairs. Furthermore, this aircraft is painted metallic silver, and we knew that matching and blending this paint would be quite difficult. We concluded that satisfactory repairs would be above this particular SC's pay grade.
We then contacted a different Cirrus SC that was 200 miles away, but which specializes in major structural repairs and would unquestionably do the job right. The director of maintenance agreed to make the 200-mile trip to inspect the aircraft, assess the damage, and provide a written repair estimate.
The repair estimate looked reasonable to us so we discussed it with the insurance adjuster and secured his approval. The SC arranged to install a ferry prop on the aircraft, obtain a ferry permit, and fly the aircraft to the SC for repairs.
Inspection and repair: The engine was sent out to a top engine shop for a post-prop-strike teardown inspection. The prop went to a prop shop and one blade had to be replaced. The airframe structural repairs were fairly extensive, and included a major repair to the aft cabin floor structure. Everything was covered by insurance.
Owner's report: "I'm back in the air and I couldn't be happier! Thank you! I feel very confident in the work, and the plane appears better than before the incident. I want to thank the Savvy team for providing expert guidance and helping to restore my bird! P.S. According to the shop, the tire was flat before landing."
Savvy's annual maintenance management service fee for a Cirrus SR22 is $750. We almost always save our clients many times that much every year in reduced maintenance costs. Savvy won't cost you money, it'll save you money, year after year. From a cost standpoint, it's a no-brainer.
Cost savings are not the only benefit, of course. Most Savvy clients feel that having a world-class team of maintenance experts to advise them and "watch their six" is priceless, especially when maintenance issues arise away from home base.