Mooney M20J N555ED

Summary

On 24 July 2024 at about 16:45 local time, a Mooney M20J registered N555ED was involved in an incident near Appleton, Wisconsin, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was slightly damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 July 2024 at 16:45

Classification

Incident

Location

Appleton, Wisconsin, United States

Nearest airport

Appleton International Airpor (ATW)

Coordinates

44.2518, -88.5103

Aircraft

Mooney M20J

Registration

N555ED

Category

Airplane

Year built

1978

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Minor

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN24LA294

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate wingtip clearance while taxiing. Contributing to the accident was the ambiguous nonstandard parking at the time of the incident.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that while taxiing from a grass tiedown area, the airplane’s left wingtip struck the propeller of a parked airplane. She did not notice the wingtip strike, so she continued to taxi and obtained her instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance. After transitioning to the paved taxiway yellow centerline stripe, the airplane’s right wing tip struck the propeller of a second parked airplane. The pilot shut down the engine and exited the airplane to examine the damage. The airplane sustained minor damage to both wings. The incident occurred during the annual Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture fly-in. The airport issued a Notice to Air Mission that was active at the time of the incident that advised operators “FBO RAMP, T HANGER RAMP PRKG NOT STD.” The pilot stated that it was not clear to her what this meant. The pilot recommended that additional personnel for wing walkers could have prevented the incident. According to the Aeronautical Information Manual, being centered on the taxiway centerline does not guarantee wingtip clearance with other aircraft or other objects.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.