Several years ago, a pilot friend of mine went to work for an air cargo operator, in part to gain multi-engine time. His new employer was operating aged piston-engine airplanes in commercial air cargo operations. He and the other crew member were killed in an unfortunate accident. Only recently did I learn the details of his accident, which offers some lessons for all of us.
The twin-engine accident airplane had been experiencing a continuing oil leak from one powerplant’s accessory section. Mechanics worked on the plane while cargo was loaded but hadn’t finished the job by scheduled departure. With my friend’s and the captain’s agreement, a seemingly unimportant part of the inner cowling/firewall was not reinstalled, leaving it for the mechanics at home base do it. The outer cowling was reinstalled, and the airplane took off a few minutes later.
