Cicadas found during a preflight inspection. [Courtesy Blake Love, Mansa Aero]
Key Takeaways:
A Challenger 350's Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) failed to start its engines because it was completely filled with cicadas, blocking airflow.
Aircraft technicians discovered the blockage after inspecting the APU, noting that cicadas are attracted to the unit's noise and heat.
Cicadas emerge in massive swarms every 13 or 17 years, causing various issues from blocked air intakes to distracting preflight inspections.
Aircraft owners are advised to avoid leaving their airplanes with APUs running outdoors for extended periods during cicada emergence to prevent similar issues.
They make a mess when they hit the windscreen. They are distracting when they swarm you as you are trying to do a preflight inspection of the airplane. And sometimes, they can get into the equipment and make it fail.
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Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
