- Date
- August 24, 1998, 19:45 local (Aug 25, 1998, 00:45 UTC)
- Place
- Sewanee, TN
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N6720ACessna 172
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 21, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980824137939A
- Case key
- 43773
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 inadequate visual lookout by the ground pedestrian. A factor was dark night conditions.
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
Prior to his departure, the pilot informed his girlfriend of his proposed arrival time at the destination airport. After landing, the pilot proceeded to park the airplane on the ramp. The pilot said, he saw his girlfriend standing on a grassy hill on the airport as he taxied to parking. Before the pilot could complete the engine shut down, his girlfriend had started running to the airplane from the left side and continued to the right side of the airplane in front of the turning propeller. The pilot's girlfriend was struck by the turning propeller. Dark night conditions existed at the time.
Factual narrative
On August 24, 1998, at 1945 central daylight time, a female pedestrian walked into the turning propeller assembly of a Cessna 172, N6720A, on the parking ramp at the Franklin County Airport in Sewanee, Tennessee. The personal flight was operated by the pilot under the provisions of Title 14 CFR Part 91 with no flight plan filed. According to weather data from the nearest reporting facility, visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane was not damaged. The private rated pilot was not injured, however the female pedestrian was seriously injured. The flight departed Cartersville, Georgia, at 1940 eastern daylight time.
According to the pilot, prior to his departure from Cartersville, he informed his girlfriend of his proposed arrival time at the Franklin County Airport. As After landing, the pilot proceeded to park the airplane on the ramp. As the pilot taxied to the ramp, he saw his girlfriend standing on a grassy hill on the airport. The pilot parked the airplane, and before he could complete the engine shut down, his girlfriend ran from the left side of the airplane to the right side in front of the turning propeller. The pilot's girlfriend was struck by the turning propeller.
No mechanical problems with the airplane were reported by the pilot.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6720A
- Reported as
- Cessna 172
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28820
- Engine
- Continental O-300A, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- William R. Lord Jr
- Registered owner
- John H. Evans
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- VPC · Cartersville, GA
- Destination
- UOS
- Airport
- UO5 · Franklin County Airport, runway 24, 3,300 × 50 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
- 22
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 88 total · 38 in this make and model · 47 as pilot in command · 33 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 360° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 7 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 64 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HSV, 35 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.