Summer 1976

The Mitsubishi MU-2B touched down at Sardy Field Mid-morning one summer day in 1976. Although the aircraft could carry six passengers and two pilots, on this day the only person on board was the Owner and Pilot of the aircraft. I guided him to the south ramp for parking and tie-down. After the MU-2 came to a stop in front of me, the pilot exited the aircraft and jumped into the rental car that had just arrived next to the aircraft, almost like it came out of thin air. Within seconds, it was just me and another ramp worker tieing down the aircraft, the owner was long gone. With chains attached to each wing and chocks under the rear tires, the aircraft was ready for an indefinite stay.

The next morning, while inspecting all the aircraft on both the north and south ramps, I noticed the MU-2 was leaning a bit to the “left” with its left wing sitting a bit lower than the right. I did not give it much thought at the time and carried on with the rest of my ramp inspection.

For the next few mornings during our rounds we noticed that the “leaning” to the left was getting more and more dramatic. The MU-2s carried their “fuel” in their wings and in “tip tanks” on the ends of each wing. During operation, the pilots can select which tank to draw fuel from in order to keep the aircraft balanced during flight. These controls managed fuel and could even allow the fuel to flow freely from tank to tank, this is known as “cross-feed.” On the ground the “cross-feed” selector should be set to closed, keeping the fuel in each respective tank. We were beginning to realize that the cross-feed setting may have been left open and gravity was slowly moving all the fuel to the left wing tip tank. This was not a good thing. We also had no way of reaching the owner to warn him of the impending disaster.

Within five days the left tip tank was inches from the ground and more serious damage could result if and when the tank made contact with the pavement. The local Airframe and Powerplant mechanic was consulted and what he had to say was not promising. Greg Murnane, was his name and he stated that we needed to do something and quick or the aircraft could sustain serious damages beyond a little scratched paint. Our first attempt was to put some old tires under the left wing to prevent any potential further damage. The problem was, with all five of us lifting on the wing we could not budge it, the fuel weighed too much. Greg’s next piece of advice was to put fuel in the right wing and as the left wing rose up, put the tires, as many as we could scrounge up, under the left wing so that it could no longer lean as dramatically.

Success!

The Aircraft sat on the ramp for another couple of days, left wing supported by the tires at an almost level position. We felt we had averted disaster for the aircraft and its “thankful” owner. We were wrong! When the owner drove up to his aircraft, as the story goes, he was livid! His next stop was back at the office and the yelling ensued. We could hear him outside on the ramp next to the FBO (Fixed Base Operator) office. First he tried to blame the ramp crew for going into the aircraft and changing the fuel selector settings. That was disputed by the fact that he had left the aircraft locked when he departed a week earlier. Next he stated that he had not asked us to protect his aircraft and because of that he was not only not going to pay for the fuel we had added to balance the aircraft, he was also not going to pay the landing and parking fees he had racked up during his visit. The management team had a few options on how to deal with the irate owner ranging from calling the sheriff to just letting him depart. With a few hundred dollars in fuel alone, the easy way out of just letting him leave was not an option they chose to make. They pulled an unexpected trick out of their sleeves. They informed the owner that he could either pay his bill or the local Mechanic could ground the aircraft pending a safety inspection which could take weeks.

Twenty minutes later the aircraft departed Aspen’s Sardy Field a few hundred dollars lighter in the pilots pocket.

Footnote:
Sadly, Greg Murnane was killed when the Cessna he was piloting crashed into Shale Bluffs, northwest of the airport on December 30, 1982. He was credited with saving the lives of all the passengers on board but was unable to exit the aircraft before being consumed by fire.