Fatal Injury: hit by the prop

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message
...

I'll shut down if I think there's a chance they could get near the prop,
even if
I think they don't intend to do so. It's one thing I think I may be overly
cautious about (I always shout "clear", too, even if I'm sure there's
no-one
around).

George Patterson
The desire for safety stands against every great and noble
enterprise.

It's really hard to overkill safety. After flying a while, you may think to
yourself 'it's really silly to shut down the engine everytime someone gets
in or out of the plane, I'm careful'. But you never know when that one
little step you take will make a difference and avoid a tragedy.

In Canada it's illegal to leave an airplane running with
nobody at the controls, though we see cropsprayers doing it. The only
exception is for handpropping, and that requires that the airplane be
secured against any possible movement.
Besides that, we regularly hear of folks walking into props,
even with someone at the controls. A fella and his wife were taxiing
out in their Cardinal when she decided she had to pee (sound familiar?)
and so he returned to the ramp and kept the engine running while she
got out and promptly walked thru the prop. End of wife. Is the starting
procedure really THAT much hassle that we can't pull the mixture and
restart a few minutes later??!

Dan

My personal rule is that I would never leave the engine running and not be
at the controls. Now, if I am flying with another pilot, either of us can
get out with the engine running and if PIC is getting out, we have a routine
for passing control of the aircraft that we have briefed. I have pilot
friends that will run up to hand me something or say something and I have no
problem with that, although I am still watching what they are doing and
anticipating a brain fart. If I don't know the person approaching my
aircraft, or know the person but they aren't a pilot,...engine is off. Just
my own personal comfort zone there.

Also, if I'm shutting it down in a hurry, it's with the mag switches not the
mixture.