Seat belts - potential safety issue

[gblwy]

Last week my flap lever jammed while extending flaps for landing, and I had difficulty lowering the flaps.

Subsequent investigation revealed that my wife (right seat) had wrapped her left lap belt around the flap bracket, before attaching it. There's a loose label on the seat belt which normally is between the belt and the seat cushion. If the belt is wrapped around the flap bracket the label is now between the belt and the flap mechanism and can, and indeed did, get jammed in the flap extension mechanism.

Not too serious perhaps, but an unexpected problem for me just prior to turning final. The picture is not too clear, but the passenger's belt is going around the pilot's side of the flap lever. You can see the white lable positioned just right to interfere with the flap.

Cheers...Keith

 

[ArlingtonRV]

Good wire cutter too...

The flap handle also makes an efficient wire cutter. The cable for my iPod somehow managed to get caught through the flap handle. When I went to lower the flaps to land there was some resistence, so naturally I pulled harder, and all the sudden the music stopped! When I got out I found the cable in two pieces neatly cut. Needless to say I'm a little more careful where wires go now.

 

[snowsam]

We have had to replace seat belts twice due to them getting "chewed" by the manual flap lever in the RV-12. Here is an example of how the seat belt gets damaged:



New belts are only sold in a set: https://store.vansaircraft.com/tuf-...-5pt-belt-and-harness-black-sbh-6x-black.html

Amsafe is very expensive to do a rewebbing. But we did find "Aviation Safety Products" in Blairsville, GA - https://aircraftseatbelts.com/ . They rewebbed for a very reasonable price. And they were super-friendly.

This second time, I decided to try to find a long term solution. SeatBeltPlanet.com has plastic protective sleeves at https://www.seatbeltplanet.com/i-30498196-protective-flat-sleeves-black.html . I bought two of the 6" length and they seem to be perfect for holding the seatbelt up and clear of the flap handle area.

I hope this helps someone else with an RV-12 prevent having to re-web.

 

[Mel]

How does the seatbelt get into that position? If it's not buckled around a person, it should be buckled across the empty seat.

 

[snowsam]

How does the seatbelt get into that position? If it's not buckled around a person, it should be buckled across the empty seat.

Agreed. The answer is students and renters.

 

[mcems]

 

[gasman]

How does the seatbelt get into that position? If it's not buckled around a person, it should be buckled across the empty seat.

By not paying attention to what you are doing, and not having a tidy cockpit.

 

[RandomSquawk]

How does the seatbelt get into that position? If it's not buckled around a person, it should be buckled across the empty seat.

That isn't necessarily the issue. This happened to me once when my passenger's belt--buckled and tight--passed over/around the bracket. I didn't notice until I tried to lower the flaps.