Aviat A-1C-180 N62WY

Summary

On 4 December 2011 at about 01:48 local time, a Aviat A-1C-180 registered N62WY was involved in an accident near McKinney, Texas, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

4 December 2011 at 01:48

Classification

Accident

Location

McKinney, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Aero Country Airport (T31)

Coordinates

33.2083, -96.7417

Aircraft

Aviat A-1C-180

Registration

N62WY

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

McKinney → McKinney

Aircraft damage

Not recorded

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

CEN12LA125

1 person was seriously injured.

The passenger's inadvertent contact with a rotating propeller after exiting the parked airplane. Contributing to the accident were the dark night conditions and the deplaning of the passenger while the propeller was turning.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

After returning from a short night flight, the airplane was parked on a ramp in front of a hangar to deplane the passenger and take another person on a flight. The engine was at idle power and the propeller was turning. The pilot stated that he leaned across the airplane and opened the right door so the passenger could exit. When he saw that she was exiting toward the front of the airplane, he put his arm out and told her to walk toward the rear after exiting. Once the pilot saw that the passenger was clear of the wing strut and walking away, he lowered his arm. A witness who was walking from the hangar toward the airplane saw that the passenger was walking toward the front of the aircraft. He yelled for her to stop, and a second later she hit the propeller from the rear and fell to the ground. He noticed that the pilot immediately shut the engine down and then called emergency services. FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 91-42D, "Hazards of Rotating Propeller and Helicopter Rotor Blade,” states that a propeller under power, even at slow idling speed, has sufficient force to inflict injuries. It cautions that the engine “should be shut down before boarding or deplaning passengers.” It further states that “when it is necessary to discharge a passenger from an aircraft on which an engine is running, never stop the aircraft with the propeller in the path of the passenger’s route from the aircraft.”

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.