That time an MD-80 pitot tube reading went haywire over Tulsa back in 2002

I was doing a preflight at a regional hangar outside Tulsa when the captain pointed out the airspeed indicator was dead, so I climbed up the ladder and found a mud dauber nest completely blocking the static port, cleared it with a paperclip, and after a quick ground test the rest of maintenance gave me grief for not spotting it sooner, has anyone else run into wasp nests messing with pitot-static systems?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_jamie14d ago

The mud dauber nest blocking the static port thing is wild, I've seen it happen twice in my own work with smaller aircraft. One time a captain was doing his walkaround and noticed the pitot tube had a little mound of mud at the tip, and when he poked it, a swarm of mud daubers came flying out. It's crazy how they can build that stuff up fast, especially in the heat down here. I always tell the guys to check those ports with a flashlight before any flight, not just during heavy checks. That paperclip trick is solid though, I've used a stiff piece of weed trimmer line myself when I didn't have a proper probe handy.

carr.brooke14d ago

especially when poking it with a paperclip just makes them really mad @the_jamie lol

rodriguez.diana12d ago

Wait, do people really poke those nests with paperclips on purpose? @carr.brooke I get that it's a handy tool for clearing the port, but if a captain or mechanic spots a mud dauber nest, shouldn't the correct procedure be to have maintenance properly inspect and clear it before flight? Those pitot and static ports are super sensitive, and jamming a paperclip in there could damage the internal components or leave debris behind. I've heard stories where a tiny piece of mud or even a bug gets wedged deeper from poking too hard, leading to bad airspeed readings. Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I'd rather delay a flight for a proper cleaning than risk a false reading at 30,000 feet because someone thought a paperclip would save time.