Flight CTLS N920SS

Summary

On 28 June 2021 at about 23:30 local time, a Flight CTLS registered N920SS was involved in an accident near Ray, Michigan, United States. 2 people were on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

28 June 2021 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Ray, Michigan, United States

Nearest airport

Ray Community (57D)

Coordinates

42.7384, -82.8897

Aircraft

Flight CTLS

Registration

N920SS

Category

Airplane

Year built

2010

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Instructional

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN21LA295

1 person was seriously injured.

The flight instructor’s improper decision to direct the student pilot to exit the airplane with the engine running, which resulted in serious injury when the student walked into the propeller arc.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The flight instructor was conducting the 16-year-old student pilot’s first instructional flight. After completing several takeoffs and landings, they “taxied around the airport multiple times,” during which they experienced “light to sometimes moderate” rain. At the conclusion of the lesson, the rain became heavy enough that visibility was reduced, and the instructor decided to taxi the airplane into its open hangar to avoid getting wet. As they approached the hangar, the instructor noted a set of wheel chocks on the ground, and with the engine still running, he instructed the student to exit the airplane, walk around the propeller arc, and move the chocks so that he, “could taxi the airplane nose-first into the hangar…then turn it around once inside and shut down.” He stated that he repeated the instructions to ensure that the student understood. The student subsequently exited the airplane and walked forward into the spinning propeller, resulting in serious injury. The instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.