- Date
- March 5, 2026, 16:26 UTC
- Place
- Charleston, WV
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N2648YCessna 180
- Defining event
- Taxi: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 7, 2026
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20260305001049A
- Case key
- 202618
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 inadequate visual lookout, which resulted in a collision with a helicopter dolly during taxi.
Findings · 2
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
After maintenance had been completed on the tailwheel-equipped airplane, the pilot performed a preflight inspection, after which the airplane was pushed from the hangar area and onto the airport ramp. The pilot then began to taxi the airplane between a parked van and a helicopter dolly. During the taxi, the airplane struck the helicopter dolly, resulting in substantial damage to the underside of the fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2648Y
- Reported as
- Cessna 180
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 31676
- Built
- 1955
- Airframe hours
- 5,776
- Engine
- Continental O-470-K, 230 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · March 3, 2026 · 0 hours before
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Airport
- CRW · West Virginia Intl Yeager, runway 5, 6,715 × 150 ft, concrete
- Equipment
- Electronic flight bag or handheld device, ADS-B, Auto-pilot
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
- 78
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Commercial, Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 20, 2025
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 15,465 total · 70 in this make and model · 14,893 as pilot in command · 21 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 11 knots, gusting 19
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 9,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 55 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- CRW, 1 nm away
- METAR
- METAR KCRW 051554Z 23011G19KT 10SM FEW035 SCT070 BKN095 22/13 A3009 RMK AO2 SLP187 T02170133
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.