- Date
- May 10, 1993, 10:15 local (14:15 UTC)
- Place
- Wilmington, NC
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N4856DCessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 19, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19930510034329A
- Case key
- 3209
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The ground personnel's failure to ensure that the airplane was clear of obstructions which resulted in the right wing colliding with a utility pole. A factor was the pilot's inadequate visual lookout
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
According to the pilot, she completed a normal landing and was taxiing to parking when a ground guide on the ramp approached the airplane to assist with the parking. As the airplane neared the parking spot, the ground guide instructed the pilot to turn left. As the pilot started the turn, the right outboard wing panel collided with a utility pole on the ramp
Factual narrative
On May 10, 1993, at 1015 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172 , N4856D, collided with a utility pole while taxiing to parking at the New Hanover County Airport, Wilmington, North Carolina. The instructional flight operated under 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the collision. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the student pilot was not injured. The flight departed Wilmington at 0915 hours.
According to the pilot, she had completed a local flight and was cleared to taxi to the ramp. Upon arriving at the parking area, a line boy came out to assist the pilot with the parking of the airplane; the pilot proceeded to follow the ground guide's instructions. As the ground guide instructed the pilot to turn left, the right wing collided with a utility pole.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4856D
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17272374
- Airframe hours
- 1,530
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Hiltz, Vera
- Registered owner
- Hiltz, Vera
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 7, 1993 · 125 hours before
- Departed
- ILM
- Destination
- ILM
- Airport
- ILM · New Hanover International, runway 17, 7,002 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 37
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 484 total · 484 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 77 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- ILM, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.