CEN17LA217

NTSB accident investigation · Piper PA 28-235 · Harrisonville, MO · June 8, 2017

Accident · Serious injuriesLimited investigationFinal report
Date
June 8, 2017, 09:00 local (14:00 UTC)
Place
Harrisonville, MO
Injuries
1 serious, 1 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
Damage
Minor damage
Phase of flight
Taxi
Aircraft
N3082TPiper PA 28-235
Defining event
Taxi: AC/prop/rotor contact w person
Weather
Visual (VMC) · Day
Status
Completed · report June 5, 2018
Report
Approved by Office Director
NTSB office
Central Region
Parties
FAA
FAA report
20170608009449A
Case key
95330

From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.

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Probable cause

The pilot's failure to maintain a safe distance between the airplane and a person on the ground, which resulted in serious injuries to the person.

Findings · 3

NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.

Object/animal/substance: personEnvironmental issues › Physical environment · Awareness of conditionPiper PA-28-235: 1 caseAll aircraft: 17 casesProbable cause

Sequence of events

The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.

Analysis

When the private pilot taxied the airplane to park, he was taxiing past his friend, who was using a camera to record the airplane. The pilot felt a thump and could not see his friend, so he turned the airplane around and saw his friend lying on the ground. The friend sustained serious injuries. The airplane sustained damage to the left wingtip. Weather at the time of the accident was a clear sky with no restrictions to visibility.

Factual narrative

On June 8, 2017, about 0900 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-235 airplane, N3082T, struck a person while taxiing at a private airstrip near Harrisonville, Missouri. The private pilot was not injured, and a pilot-rated pedestrian was seriously injured. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, which operated without a flight plan. The flight originated from the Lawrence Smith Memorial Airport (KLRY), Harrisonville, Missouri, and the airplane landed on a private airstrip about 4 miles southwest of KLRY.According to information obtained by the responding Federal Aviation Administration inspector and sheriff's deputy, when the pilot taxied the airplane to park, he was taxiing past his friend (the pilot-rated pedestrian) who was using a camera to record the airplane. He felt a thump and could not see his friend, so he turned the airplane around and saw his friend laying on the ground. The friend was transported to the hospital. The airplane had damage to the left wingtip. An automated weather reporting facility near the accident site reported a clear sky with no restrictions to visibility. An NTSB Form 6120 was not submitted by the pilot.

Aircraft

Registration
N3082T
Reported as
Piper PA 28-235 (235)
Category
Airplane
Serial number
28-7310002
Built
1972
Engine
Lycoming O-540 SERIES, 250 horsepower, reciprocating
Damage
Minor damage
Flight
Personal · Part 91
Airworthiness certificate
Standard, Normal
Departed
LRY · Harrisonville, MO
Destination
Harrisonville, MO
Airport
Priv · Private Airstrip

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
55
Injuries
None
Certificate
Private
Airplane ratings
Single-engine land
Medical
Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
Seat
Left

Weather

Conditions
Visual (VMC) · Day
Wind
210° at 5 knots
Visibility
10 statute miles
Lowest ceiling
None
Temperature
72 °F, dew point 54 °F
Altimeter
30.10 inHg
Observed at
KLRY, 5 nm away

Docket · 3

The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 12, 2018, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 378 KB in all.

FAA reports on this event · 1

The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.

Other investigations on N3082T · 1

Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.