- Date
- July 24, 2024, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Appleton, WI
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N555EDMooney M20J
- Defining event
- Taxi: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240724018072I
- Case key
- 194812
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the incident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain adequate wingtip clearance while taxiing. Contributing to the accident was the ambiguous nonstandard parking at the time of the incident.
Findings · 2
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.
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
The pilot reported that while taxiing from a grass tiedown area, the airplane’s left wingtip struck the propeller of a parked airplane. She did not notice the wingtip strike, so she continued to taxi and obtained her instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance. After transitioning to the paved taxiway yellow centerline stripe, the airplane’s right wing tip struck the propeller of a second parked airplane. The pilot shut down the engine and exited the airplane to examine the damage. The airplane sustained minor damage to both wings. The incident occurred during the annual Experimental Aircraft Association AirVenture fly-in. The airport issued a Notice to Air Mission that was active at the time of the incident that advised operators “FBO RAMP, T HANGER RAMP PRKG NOT STD.” The pilot stated that it was not clear to her what this meant. The pilot recommended that additional personnel for wing walkers could have prevented the incident. According to the Aeronautical Information Manual, being centered on the taxiway centerline does not guarantee wingtip clearance with other aircraft or other objects.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N555ED
- Reported as
- Mooney M20J
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 24-0684
- Built
- 1978
- Airframe hours
- 5,594
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-A3B6, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 23, 2024
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- ATW · Appleton International Airport
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 10, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 1,186 total · 823.6 in this make and model · 1,053.2 as pilot in command · 37.6 in the last 90 days · 27.9 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 360° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 70 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.19 inHg
- Observed at
- KATW, 1 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KATW 241645Z 36004KT 10SM BKN029 21/14 A3019=
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 3.4 MB 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 N555ED · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.