- Date
- September 23, 1994, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Kill Devil Hill, NC
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N622MKPiper PA-28-235B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 16, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940923032969A
- Case key
- 3451
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 pilot's failure to assure that the passenger did not exit the airplane while the propeller was still turning.
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, the passenger developed a physical urgency, and could not wait until the propeller had stopped. She exited the aircraft via the right door, and moved forward over the wing. As she stepped off of the wing, her left hand was stuck by the propeller.
Factual narrative
On September 23, 1994, about 1430 eastern daylight time, a passenger was struck by the propeller of a Piper PA-28-235B, N622MK, when she exited the airplane, before the engine was shut down, at First Flight Airport in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina. The flight operated under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91, with no flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was not damaged. The private pilot was not injured, but the passenger received serious injuries. The flight departed Williamsburg, Virginia, at 1330 hours.
The pilot verbally stated that the passenger had a physical urgency, and she could not wait until the engine was shut down. She exited the cockpit via the right door and proceeded forward, over the right wing of the airplane. As she jumped from the wing, her left hand was struck by the propeller, severing three fingers.
A report of the accident, NTSB Form 6120.1/2, was not provided by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N622MK
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-235B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-10899
- Airframe hours
- 2,500
- Engine
- Lycoming O-540-B4B5, 235 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Roof, Robb E.
- Registered owner
- Penn Aero Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 26, 1994 · 99 hours before
- Departed
- JGG · Williamsburg, VA
- Destination
- FFA · NC
- Airport
- FFA · First Flight, runway 2, 3,000 × 60 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 41
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 380 total · 350 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 330° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- FFA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.