King Air Cowl Latches

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pelmet
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King Air Cowl Latches

Post by pelmet »

C-FHSP, a Beechcraft B300C King Air was conducting Pacific Sky Aviation Inc. flight LVW357
from St. John’s International Airport (CYYT) NL to Québec/Jean Lesage International Airport
(CYQB) QC. While enroute, the flight crew declared an emergency due to a loose cowl latch on the
aircraft nacelle and diverted to the Stephenville Airport (CYJT) NL. The aircraft landed safely at
18:37 UTC.


Not sure what happened in the above incident but it might be a good time to review King Air Gotcha's.......

https://kingairmagazine.com/article/ask ... r-gotchas/

"Gotcha number four is the Upper Forward Cowling Not Properly Secured. It is not uncommon that one of the four latches that secure the upper forward cowling in place fails to engage properly when this cowling piece is installed. On my walk-around inspections, I use the palms of both hands to give this piece a firm upward hit, on each side, making sure that I cannot dislodge it. This is especially important if I know the cowling has been removed and reinstalled prior to this flight.

Even having done so, however, there may come a time or two when the air loads imposed on the cowling in flight cause the incorrectly fastened latch to finally let go. As you do your After Takeoff checks, you notice the upper forward cowl is lifted up an inch or so! I suggest you do three things.

First, slow the airplane down. The faster you fly, the more air loads are created and the chance of the cowling actually departing the airplane are increased, so keep the indicated airspeed down to no more than, say, 140 KIAS. Second, extend the ice vanes. The engine anti-ice system, the inertial separator, creates a venturi effect in the cowling when extended, reducing the inlet air pressure considerably. You will almost assuredly observe the loose cowling suck down a bit once you’ve extended the vanes. Third, return for landing. Taxi in, shutdown, and get a half-inch, thin walled socket and use it to tighten that temperamental latch properly."
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by co-joe »

If you read this report of a King Air 100, it's quite concerning to note that the airflow disruption caused by the upper cowl being detached in flight at high airspeed damaged the elevator. I'm guessing the 200/ 300 series Beech this wouldn't happen because of the T tail, but I sure wouldn't want to find out.
Subsequent visual examination of the
empennage determined that the outboard 22 inches of the left elevator
had also departed from the aircraft before landing.
https://www.tsb-bst.gc.ca/eng/rapports- ... 5w0180.pdf
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pelmet
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by pelmet »

Not sure if these cowl latches are the same, but obviously, there is an issue with ones with quarter-turn fasteners.....

https://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Guid ... -22-10.pdf
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digits_
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by digits_ »

The quarter turn latches on king air cowlings are not the same as the quarter turn fasteners in that excel picture. Not the ones i've flown anyway.

There's nothing wrong with the king air fasteners, if they are indeed fastened. I've seen planes lose camlock fasteners, but usually there are a lot of those used on one cowling, so losing a couple has no significant consequences.

The king airs seem to have 3 per side. I believe they are designed to handle one broken one in flight, but they are not camlock fasteners. There's a hook attached to the fastener. Although I'm sure by now there are multiple systems in use.
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by oldtimer »

Many years ago I was doing the bank bag run from YYC to YXD when the K100 incident from Fort Mac happened. I used to fly C-FNAA a bunch so TSB had a bunch of questions for me. The company that owned FNAA also owned another K100 but that airplane had a newer style latches that were stronger. I had one incident where the nose bowl came undone (FNAA) (fortunate stayed with the airplane) but the cause was a careless mechanic who did not install and latch the bowl properly. Special High Intensity Training solved the problem.
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by all_ramped_up »

digits_ wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 12:21 pm The quarter turn latches on king air cowlings are not the same as the quarter turn fasteners in that excel picture. Not the ones i've flown anyway.

There's nothing wrong with the king air fasteners, if they are indeed fastened. I've seen planes lose camlock fasteners, but usually there are a lot of those used on one cowling, so losing a couple has no significant consequences.

The king airs seem to have 3 per side. I believe they are designed to handle one broken one in flight, but they are not camlock fasteners. There's a hook attached to the fastener. Although I'm sure by now there are multiple systems in use.
King Air 200s and I believe 100s have two of the latches per side. The forward two are hooks actuated by a socket for the forward upper cowling. The aft latches are for the doors to the engine cowling are two and then two camlocks.

The whole works is held together with those and a handful of 7/16 bolts.
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by pelmet »

all_ramped_up wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 7:49 pm
digits_ wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 12:21 pm The quarter turn latches on king air cowlings are not the same as the quarter turn fasteners in that excel picture. Not the ones i've flown anyway.

There's nothing wrong with the king air fasteners, if they are indeed fastened. I've seen planes lose camlock fasteners, but usually there are a lot of those used on one cowling, so losing a couple has no significant consequences.

The king airs seem to have 3 per side. I believe they are designed to handle one broken one in flight, but they are not camlock fasteners. There's a hook attached to the fastener. Although I'm sure by now there are multiple systems in use.
King Air 200s and I believe 100s have two of the latches per side. The forward two are hooks actuated by a socket for the forward upper cowling. The aft latches are for the doors to the engine cowling are two and then two camlocks.

The whole works is held together with those and a handful of 7/16 bolts.
C-FAKW, an Alkan Air Beech King Air BE300, operated under instrument flight rules, was
conducting flight AKN183 for BC Emergency Health Services from Nanaimo (CYCD) BC, and
Terrace (CYXT) BC with two crew members and two passengers onboard. The flight was
experiencing moderate turbulence while in the climb to 14000 feet above sea level and the crew
noticed that the top forward cowling on the the right engine had come unseated. The flight crew
elected to divert to Vancouver and requested priority handling from air traffic control. The airplane
landed safely with aircraft rescue and fire fighting personnel on standby. The airplane taxied to the
gate.

Company maintenance tightened a cowling bolt and secured the latch holding the cowling in place.
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pelmet
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by pelmet »

all_ramped_up wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 7:49 pm
digits_ wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 12:21 pm The quarter turn latches on king air cowlings are not the same as the quarter turn fasteners in that excel picture. Not the ones i've flown anyway.

There's nothing wrong with the king air fasteners, if they are indeed fastened. I've seen planes lose camlock fasteners, but usually there are a lot of those used on one cowling, so losing a couple has no significant consequences.

The king airs seem to have 3 per side. I believe they are designed to handle one broken one in flight, but they are not camlock fasteners. There's a hook attached to the fastener. Although I'm sure by now there are multiple systems in use.
King Air 200s and I believe 100s have two of the latches per side. The forward two are hooks actuated by a socket for the forward upper cowling. The aft latches are for the doors to the engine cowling are two and then two camlocks.

The whole works is held together with those and a handful of 7/16 bolts.
C-FAKW, an Alkan Air Beech King Air BE300, operated under instrument flight rules, was
conducting flight AKN183 for BC Emergency Health Services from Nanaimo (CYCD) BC, and
Terrace (CYXT) BC with two crew members and two passengers onboard. The flight was
experiencing moderate turbulence while in the climb to 14000 feet above sea level and the crew
noticed that the top forward cowling on the the right engine had come unseated. The flight crew
elected to divert to Vancouver and requested priority handling from air traffic control. The airplane
landed safely with aircraft rescue and fire fighting personnel on standby. The airplane taxied to the
gate.

Company maintenance tightened a cowling bolt and secured the latch holding the cowling in place.
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Re: King Air Cowl Latches

Post by co-joe »

oldtimer wrote: Mon May 02, 2022 3:44 pm ...Special High Intensity Training solved the problem.
Did that involve a sock with a bar of soap in it?
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