- Date
- April 25, 2003, 10:59 local (17:59 UTC)
- Place
- Bullhead City, AZ
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N38137Piper PA-28-181
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 1, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20030425012579A
- Case key
- 56938
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 misjudgment of distance resulting in the inadequate clearance between the wing tip and the fuel truck.
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 taxing to parking, the airplane collided with a parked fuel truck with the outboard 18 inches of the left wing. The pilot was taxing on the centerline, at a normal speed, and was not aware that the fuel truck was obstructing the taxi way. He said he "misjudged the distance" between the airplane and the fuel truck.
Factual narrative
On April 25, 2003, at 1059 mountain standard time, a Piper PA-28-181, N38137, collided with a fuel truck while taxing to parking at Laughlin/Bullhead International Airport, Bullhead City, Arizona. National Air College, Inc., was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. Visual metrological conditions prevailed and no flight plan had been filed. The personal cross-country flight originated at French Valley Airport, Murrieta, California, at 0930.
The pilot reported in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) that the fuel truck was parked with the operator inside the vehicle and no fueling was in progress. He stated that he was taxing at a normal taxi speed with the nose wheel on the centerline, and was not aware that the fuel truck was obstructing the taxi way. He said he "misjudged the distance" between the airplane and fuel truck, and the airplane struck the fuel truck with the outboard 18 inches of the left wing.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N38137
- Reported as
- Piper PA-28-181
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28-7790522
- Airframe hours
- 8,983.1
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- National Air College Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · March 6, 2003 · 7 hours before
- Departed
- KF70 · Murrieta, CA
- Destination
- KIFP · Bullhead City, AZ
- Airport
- IFP · Laughlin/Bullhead Intl
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
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Last flight review
- April 8, 2003
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 77 total · 53 in this make and model · 20 as pilot in command · 25 in the last 90 days · 16 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 190° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 37 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- KIFP
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N38137 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.