Warning: a loose cannon plug on a King Air cost me 6 hours last Tuesday

I was doing a pitot static check on a King Air 200 last Tuesday at our hangar in Wichita and the left airspeed indicator would not settle down, it kept jumping around 20 knots off. I spent 6 hours chasing the leak with soapy water and a leak tester, checked every fitting twice, then a buddy walked by and grabbed the cannon plug behind the panel and it clicked in like half a turn. The pins looked fine from the front but the shell was not fully seated so it was picking up noise from the adjacent wire bundle. Pull on your cannon plugs people, do not just eyeball them. Has anyone else been burned by a plug that looked tight but was not?

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jason_wood14d ago

Man that is a rough one. Six hours on a wild goose chase and it was a half turn the whole time. Been there. Had a nav light doing the same thing, looked fine, wiggled the plug and it clicked right in. The shell not seating right will get you every time because the pins look perfect from the front. Good reminder to actually grab them and not just look. Glad your buddy caught it before you pulled more of your hair out.

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