- Date
- January 15, 2026, 10:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Burnet, TX
- Injuries
- 1 minor, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N8213RBellanca 17-30A
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) operating: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 13, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration, San Antonio FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260115001509A
- Case key
- 202303
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 improper judgement to relinquish his pilot responsibilities to the passenger with the engine operating, which resulted in a loss of airplane control and impact with a parked vehicle.
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
In preparation for the personal flight, the pilot started the airplane to warm the engine. He then set the airplane’s parking brake and exited the airplane to load baggage while the engine was operating at idle. He asked the passenger, who was not a pilot, to board the airplane while the baggage was being loaded and to pull the mixture control if anything should happen. The pilot then went into the fixed base operator to get his debit card and to use the bathroom. Within two minutes, he heard the engine sound increase, and the airplane taxi into an unoccupied vehicle that was parked about 75 yards away. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the outboard section of right wing. The pilot reported there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The pilot stated that the accident could have been prevented by never placing an unattended non-pilot passenger in parked operating airplane and would be scheduling remedial pilot training with a flight instructor.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8213R
- Reported as
- Bellanca 17-30A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 30425
- Built
- 1972
- Airframe hours
- 2,327.4
- Engine
- Continental Motors IO-520K, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 8, 2025
- Airport
- BMQ · Burnet Municipal Airport/Kate Craddock Field
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
- 35
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 9, 2025
- Seat
- None
- Restraint
- None
- Flight hours
- 5,953 total · 30 in this make and model · 5,800 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days · 30 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Variable at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.30 inHg
- Observed at
- BMQ
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 13, 2026, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 8.7 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.