CHI01LA005

While taxing to the departure runway the aircraft departed the right side of the taxiway, nosed over, coming to rest in an inverted position. The grass on the right side of taxiway was reported to be soft from rain.

On October 5, 2000, at 1610 central daylight time, a Cessna T210N, N4673C, owned and operated by Flight Express, Orlando, Florida, sustained substantial damage when it nosed-over while taxing to runway 30L at the St. Louis Downtown - Parks Airport, Cahokia, Illinois. Visual metrological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The business-cargo flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 135 and had an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan on file. The pilot, the sole occupant, reported no injuries. The flight was originating at the time of the accident and had the intended destination of the Floyd W. Jones Lebanon Airport, Lebanon, Missouri.

According to the pilot's written statement, he was issued a clearance to taxi from the ramp to runway 30L via taxiways charlie, alpha, delta, echo, and bravo. The pilot reported that when he turned onto taxiway bravo he diverted his attention to locate a chart in the cockpit and when he looked-up, after a period of 2-3 seconds, he noticed the airplane veering off the right side of the taxiway. The pilot stated that he, "... was very surprised to see this and reacted by pushing on the left rudder and hitting the brakes hard. Instead of the airplane stopping, though, it simply kept going and nosed over into the grass and actually flipped all the way over." The pilot reported that he was able to secure the aircraft and exit the airplane without any reported injuries.

The grass on the right side of taxiway bravo was reported to be soft from rain.