- Date
- November 9, 2009, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- York, PA
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N976HBCessna 150
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) start-up: AC/prop/rotor contact w person
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 6, 2010
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20091109050989A
- Case key
- 75032
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 inadvertent encounter with a rotating propeller.
Findings · 1
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 connected his car battery to the airplane's battery with jumper cables and started the airplane's engine. He stated that the airplane's wheels were not chocked, the parking brake was not set, and as he detached the jumper cables from the airplane's battery the airplane "started to taxi." The pilot stopped the airplane by holding on to the wing strut, and instructed the passenger inside the airplane to step on the toe brakes. During his second attempt to detach the jumper cables, the airplane moved forward again. According to the pilot, "I ran around again to stop the plane [and] I ran into the prop…" The pilot sustained a serious injury to his left arm.
Factual narrative
The pilot connected his car battery to the airplane's battery with jumper cables and started the airplane's engine. He stated that the airplane's wheels were not chocked, the parking brake was not set, and as he detached the jumper cables from the airplane's battery, the airplane "started to taxi." The pilot stopped the airplane by holding on to the wing strut, and instructed the passenger inside the airplane to step on the toe brakes. During his second attempt to detach the jumper cables, the airplane moved forward again. According to the pilot, "I ran around again to stop the plane [and] I ran into the prop…" The pilot sustained a serious injury to his left arm.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N976HB
- Reported as
- Cessna 150 (L)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15074983
- Engine
- Continental O200, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Herbert M. Bartell
- Registered owner
- Herbert M. Bartell
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · October 21, 2009
- Departed
- THV · York, PA
- Destination
- THV · York, PA
- Flight plan
- Unknown
- Airport
- THV · York Airport
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
- 81
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 22, 2008
- Flight hours
- 2,148 total · 2,148 in this make and model · 2,104 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 5 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 63 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.38 inHg
- Observed at
- THV
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 5, 2010, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 553 KB 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 N976HB · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.