20050825018589I

Incident · Substantial damage

FAA incident report · Piper J3C-65 · Blairstown, NJ · August 25, 2005

Date: August 25, 2005 · 18:15 local
Place: Blairstown, NJ
Airport: Blairstown Airport
Phase of flight: Other Ground Ops
Operating rules: General operating rules (Part 91)
Damage: Substantial damage
Aircraft: N7451H
Reported as: Piper J3C65
Fatal injuries: 0

N7451HRegistration cancelled Jan 29, 2018 · Piper J3C-65S/N 20716 · Built 1946 Airframe modelPiper J3C-65 Engine modelContinental A&C65 seriesReciprocating

From the FAA’s Accident/Incident Data System (AIDS), through its Aviation Safety Information Portal, as reported. The NTSB investigates accidents separately, and its record of an accident is the fuller one. The aircraft is matched to the registry by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.

What happened

The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.

(-23) Ground crew was pulling the propeller thru before starting the aircraft. The throttle control was full forward in the maximum RPM position. The ground crew inadvertently left the magneto switch in the "on" position. Th e engine started when the propeller was rotated. The aircraft began to taxi on its own and struck a tetrahedron before continuing approximately 200 yards and striking trees at the edge of a wooded area.

As the FAA filed it

(-23) GROUND CREW WAS PULLING THE PROPELLER THRU BEFORE STARTING THE AIRCRAFT. THE THROTTLE CONTROL WAS FULL FORWARD IN THE MAXIMUM RPM POSITION. THE GROUND CREW INADVERTENTLY LEFT THE MAGNETO SWITCH IN THE "ON" POSITION. TH E ENGINE STARTED WHEN THE PROPELLER WAS ROTATED. THE AIRCRAFT BEGAN TO TAXI ON ITS OWN AND STRUCK A TETRAHEDRON BEFORE CONTINUING APPROXIMATELY 200 YARDS AND STRIKING TREES AT THE EDGE OF A WOODED AREA.