Pilatus PC-12/45 N398J

Summary

On 3 January 2008 at about 08:25 local time, a Pilatus PC-12/45 registered N398J was involved in an accident near Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States. 9 people were on board. One person on the ground also died. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 January 2008 at 08:25

Classification

Accident

Location

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States

Nearest airport

Wiley Post (PWA)

Coordinates

35.5336, -97.6414

Aircraft

Pilatus PC-12/45

Registration

N398J

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Phoenix → Oklahoma City

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

DFW08LA055

Injuries not recorded.

The line technician's failure to remain clear of the propeller. A factor was the night lighting conditions.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

After an uneventful landing at night, the commercial rated pilot taxied the single-engine turbo propeller equipped airplane to a FBO based at the airport. Upon reaching the FBO's dimly lit ramp, a line technician, who was employed by the FBO, used lighted wands to marshal the airplane to a parking spot. When the airplane came to a complete stop, the pilot set the parking brake. As the pilot was initiating the engine shut down procedures, he heard a loud "thud" and felt the engine, propeller, and airplane begin to vibrate. He looked up and saw the line technician rolling on the ramp toward the airplane's left wing tip. Upon exiting the airplane, the pilot and one of the passengers, who was a physician, noted that the line technician was critically wounded and immediately initiated first aid. It was also noted that a set of wheel chocks and the severed sections of the two lighted wands were near the propeller at the front of the airplane. The line technician had received a written warning from his employer approximately three months before the accident for attempting to chock the nose wheel of another airplane while the engines were operating.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.