- Date
- January 26, 2002, 15:40 local (20:40 UTC)
- Place
- Doylestown, PA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N172PCessna 172P
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 25, 2002
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20020126001939A
- Case key
- 54128
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
pilot's failure to maintain clearance between the airplane and a parked fuel truck while taxing.
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
The student pilot had just landed after a solo flight and was taxing back to the fixed base operator when he attempted to pass a parked fuel truck. As he taxied passed the truck, the right wing clipped the truck's right rear view mirror. The airplane then pivoted to the right, and the spinner and propeller collided with the side of the truck. The student pilot reported a total of 27.9 flight hours in single-engine aircraft, of which 1.3 hours were solo. He also reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. When asked how this accident could have been prevented, the student pilot said: "Moving more away from the truck and paying more attention to where the truck is."
Factual narrative
On January 26, 2002, at 1540 eastern standard time, a Cessna 172P, N172P, was substantially damaged when it collided with a parked fuel truck while taxing at Doylestown Airport, Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The student pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the solo instructional flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The student pilot had just landed after a solo flight and was taxing back to the fixed base operator (FBO) to pick up his instructor. In a written statement, he said:
"..I was taxiing back to the FBO when about 10 people started crossing the taxiway. I stopped, letting the people through. From where I stopped I thought I could clear the fuel truck. I continued after the people passed. I was about 1-foot to the left of the centerline and as I passed the truck I felt the airplane hit and suddenly swing into the side of the truck. After the collision, I shut down the airplane as fast as possible."
In a telephone conversation, a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector said that the airplane's right wing tip clipped the truck's right rear view mirror. The airplane then pivoted to the right, and the spinner and propeller collided with the side of the truck. The inboard section of the right wing exhibited extensive wrinkling on the top and bottom surfaces.
The student pilot reported a total of 27.9 flight hours in single-engine aircraft, of which 1.3 hours were solo. He also reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane.
Additionally, when asked how this accident could have been prevented, the student pilot said: "Moving more away from the truck and paying more attention to where the truck is."
Weather reported at the airport at the time of the accident included clear skies and wind from 240 degrees at 6 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N172P
- Reported as
- Cessna 172P
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172-74572
- Airframe hours
- 3,415.4
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Twin Composite Squandron
- Registered owner
- Civil Air Patrol National Headquaters
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · November 8, 2001
- Departed
- DYL · Doylestown, PA
- Destination
- DYL
- Airport
- DYL · Doylestown, runway 23, 3,000 × 60 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 17
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 45 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- DYL
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 26, 2002, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 656 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.