- Date
- February 29, 2020, 09:25 local (14:25 UTC)
- Place
- Wilmington, DE
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 1 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N228JSPiper PA28
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) start-up: AC/prop/rotor contact w person
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 29, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200229000589A
- Case key
- 101023
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 being struck in the head by the propeller before flight, which resulted in a serious injury.
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
A witness reported seeing the pilot walking around his airplane while his son sat inside it. The witness then saw the pilot laying unresponsive on the ground in front of the engine. According to the police report, the pilot sustained a serious head wound, and blood spatter was observed on the propeller. The report also stated that, after the pilot was taken to the hospital, the power and fuel had to be turned off and that the airplane had to be tied down.
Factual narrative
A witness observed the pilot walking around his airplane while his 11-year-old son sat inside the aircraft. The next thing the witness observed was the pilot laying unresponsive in front of the engine and the son screaming on the phone to 911. The son was trying to describe his location, so the witness called ground control on his airplane's radio, who in turn dispatched rescue personnel. According to the police report, the pilot sustained a serious head wound and blood spatter was observed on the propeller. The report also stated that the airplane's power and fuel had to be turned off and the airplane tied down after the pilot was taken to the hospital. According to the pilot's wife, her husband and son were planning to depart on a cross country flight before the accident occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N228JS
- Reported as
- Piper PA28 (151)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7415103
- Built
- 1974
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320 SERIES, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- ILG · Wilmington, DE
- Destination
- MGW · Morgantown, WV
- Airport
- ILG · New Castle
- Equipment
- Unknown
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
- 50
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- None
- Flight hours
- 827 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 15 knots, gusting 23
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 32 °F, dew point 10 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- ILG
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on April 13, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 645 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.