- Date
- February 16, 1996, 21:00 local (Feb 17, 1996, 03:00 UTC)
- Place
- Larned, KS
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N9793JPiper PA-28
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Status
- Completed · report May 9, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960216004419A
- Case key
- 10197
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
Failure of the pilot to use adequate procedures for hand priming (hand propping) the engine.
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 pilot noted that the battery power was low, so he decided to 'hand prime' the engine. The airplane was not chocked or tied down, and the mag switch was (inadvertently left) on. The engine started with no one in the airplane, and the airplane began moving (taxiing). Subsequently, it struck a parked airplane on the ramp and continued moving until it impacted the airport's windsock.
Factual narrative
On February 16, 1996, at about 2100 central standard time (cst), a Piper PA-28, N9793J, owned and operated by a private pilot, was destroyed after striking several objects at the Larned-Pawnee County Airport, Larned, Kansas. The pilot was hand propping the airplane when it started and taxied with no one on board. The pilot reported no injuries. The personal 14 CFR Part 91 flight was operating in visual meteorological conditions. No flight plan was filed.
From the pilot's written statement he stated that the airplane had not been flown for some time so he decided to hand prime the engine due to low battery power. The airplane was not chocked or tied down and the mag switch was positioned to the on position. The airplane started and began taxiing with no one board. The pilot began steering the airplane using the wing tip as a control and avoided the gas pump but collided with another airplane on the ramp. The airplane ran under the right wing of the other airplane and tore off the tail section of the airplane taxiing. The airplane then taxied across the airfield and came to rest after impacting the windsock on the airfield.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9793J
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-3996
- Airframe hours
- 3,500
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Seltmann, Terry L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 2, 1995 · 150 hours before
- Departed
- LQR
- Airport
- LQR · Larned-Pawnee County, runway 17, 3,559 × 60 ft, asphalt
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
- 22
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Flight hours
- 125 total · 125 in this make and model · 94 as pilot in command · 7 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/bright
- Wind
- 180° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 45 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.