- Date
- November 8, 2019, 18:20 local (Nov 9, 2019, 01:20 UTC)
- Place
- Salt Lake City, UT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N914MBPiper PA60
- Defining event
- Landing: Collision during takeoff/land
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report June 16, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20191108020899A
- Case key
- 100596
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 failure to follow the taxiway centerline guide and his distraction due to adjusting the radio, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance from a taxiway light after landing and while taxiing to a ramp.
Findings · 4
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 reported that, during the night landing, he landed about 10 knots faster than normal and that, while exiting the runway, he did not follow the taxi centerline guide but instead taxied right of the centerline so that he could reach the taxiway as soon as possible. He was momentarily distracted while adjusting the radio as he was attempting to leave the runway. After completing the right turn, he recaptured the taxiway centerline and parked the airplane. During his preflight inspection the next morning, he found damage to the pressurized cabin and the right propeller. Upon further examination, the pilot noted that the right propeller had struck a taxiway light, which had dislodged the light and broken off the blade tip, and that the propeller blade tip had struck the cabin. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the cabin. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that, during the night time landing, he landed about 10 knots faster than routine and while exiting the runway, he did not follow the taxi centerline guide but instead taxied right of centerline and was momentarily distracted in the cockpit while he manipulated the radio. After completing the right turn, he recaptured taxiway centerline and parked the airplane. The next morning, during his preflight inspection, he found damage to the pressurized cabin and the right-side propeller. Upon further examination, the pilot reported that the right-side propeller struck a taxiway light; subsequently, the dislodged taxiway light and propeller blade tip struck the cabin. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the pressurized cabin. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N914MB
- Reported as
- Piper PA60 (700P)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 60-8423008
- Built
- 1984
- Engines
- 350 horsepower, reciprocating350 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 91
- Operator
- Medical Management Inc
- Registered owner
- Medical Management Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- AFO · Afton, WY
- Destination
- SLC · Salt Lake City, UT
- Airport
- SLC · Salt Lake City Intl, runway 35, 9,596 × 150 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Auto-pilot, ADS-B, Stall warning system, Onboard weather, Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display, Electronic multifunction display, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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
- 70
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 10, 2018
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 4,694 total · 390 in this make and model · 4,676 as pilot in command · 23 in the last 90 days · 9 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 270° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.36 inHg
- Observed at
- KSLC, 1 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 5, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 6.0 MB 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.