- Date
- June 24, 1995, 10:00 local (15:00 UTC)
- Place
- Rio Hondo, TX
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 2 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N5424HPiper PA-18-95
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 19, 1995
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19950624016089A
- Case key
- 19477
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 failure of the pilot to properly supervise a non-passenger resulting in the individual being struck by the propeller.
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
While waiting for the engine to warmup the pilot requested an individual standing along side the aircraft to go to the office and retrieve his soda. The individual acknowledged the request and walked into the turning propeller, sustaining serious injuries.
Factual narrative
On June 24, 1995, at 1000 central daylight time, a Piper PA-18- 90, N5424H, was undamaged while standing with the engine running near Rio Hondo, Texas. The private pilot nor his passenger were injured; however, a bystander on the ground sustained serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight. The aircraft was owned by Texas Dusting Services, Rio Hondo, Texas, under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the operator, the pilot hand-propped the engine and was seated in the cockpit waiting for the engine to warm-up prior to taxiing for takeoff for a local flight. The operator added that the pilot asked an employee, who was standing near the midspan of the leading edge of the right wing, to go into the office and retrieve his can of soda. The bystander acknowledge the pilot's request, then proceeded on a course that took her into the path of the turning propeller.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5424H
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-95
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-15
- Engine
- Continental C-90, 90 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John Houston
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- XS63
- Airport
- XS63 · Texas Dusting Services, runway 17, 1,800 × 30 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
- 30
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 313 total · 63 in this make and model · 251 as pilot in command · 53 in the last 90 days · 21 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 135° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.