- Date
- September 6, 2002, 11:15 local (16:15 UTC)
- Place
- Brookfield, WI
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N2601NCessna 120
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 25, 2003
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20020906038039A
- Case key
- 55753
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 outlook by the pilot during taxi.
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
The airplane was being taxied for takeoff when the propeller struck a grounds keeper. The pilot stated that he was taxiing to the west and was "S" turning and saw no obstacles. He said that he heard a noise and saw a, "weedwhacker rise upward at right corner of windshield." He stated that he shut the aircraft down and found the grounds keeper injured and lying on the ground. The grounds keeper had been struck by the airplane propeller.
Factual narrative
On September 6, 2002, at 1115 central daylight time, a Cessna 120, N2601N, piloted by a private pilot, struck and seriously injured a grounds keeper at the Capitol Airport, Brookfield, Wisconsin. The airplane was being taxied to the runway prior to takeoff. The pilot, who was the sole occupant of the airplane was not injured. The airplane was not damaged. The 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight was conducted in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan.
In a written report, the pilot stated that he was taxiing to the west and was "S" turning and saw no obstacles. He said that he heard a noise and saw a, "weedwhacker rise upward at right corner of windshield." He stated that he shut the aircraft down and found the grounds keeper injured and lying on the ground. The grounds keeper had been struck by the airplane propeller.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2601N
- Reported as
- Cessna 120
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 12861
- Engine
- Continental C-85-12, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Dennis F. Disch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 02C · Brookfield, WI
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
- 53
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 1,200 total · 758 in this make and model · 1,145 as pilot in command · 16 in the last 90 days · 6 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.