- Date
- July 30, 2008, 09:50 local (19:50 UTC)
- Place
- Honolulu, HI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N5329LCessna 172
- Defining event
- Taxi-to runway: Prop/jet/rotor blast/suction
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 12, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20080730848549A
- Case key
- 68824
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 flight's encounter with the jet wash from a parked commercial airplane while taxiing for takeoff.
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
The certified flight instructor (CFI) and her student were taxiing southwest on taxiway Charlie when ground control told them to switch to the tower frequency and monitor. As they approached the intersection of Charlie and Delta taxiways, the airplane started to tip over, and through the left window they could feel the warm air of jet wash coming from a parked MD-11 airplane. The jet wash lifted the airplane up and dropped it down, the propeller struck the taxiway, and then the airplane spun around to the right pivoting on the right wing tip. The CFI shut the engine down and both her and the student egressed the airplane. The MD-11's cargo was live animals and the number 2 (tail) engine was being operated to provide power to cool the airplane. There was no requirement at the time for parked airplanes to notify ground control when starting an engine.
Factual narrative
On July 30, 2008, at 0951 Hawaii standard time, a Cessna 172, N5329L, was lifted and spun around while taxing by the jet wash of parked MD-11, at Honolulu International Airport, Honolulu, Hawaii. Flight School Hawaii, Inc., operated the airplane under the provisions of title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The certified flight instructor (CFI) and student were not injured, and the airplane was substantially damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan had been filed.
The pilot reported in the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, that she and her student were taxing southwest on taxiway Charlie when ground control told them to switch to the tower frequency and monitor. As they approached the intersection of Charlie taxiway and Delta taxiway, the airplane started to tip over, and through the left window they could feel the warm air of jet wash coming from a parked MD-11 FedEx airplane. The jet wash lifted the airplane up and dropped it down, the propeller struck the taxiway, and then the airplane spun around to the right pivoting on the right wing tip. The CFI shut the engine down and both her and the student egressed the airplane.
FedEx personnel told a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector that the cargo was live animals (horses) and that the airplane interior needed to be cooled. The airplane's auxiliary power unit (APU) was not operational, and the ground power unit was malfunctioning and could not provide cooling for the airplane. The number 2 engine (tail engine) was started in order to provide power to run the air conditioning packs so the cabin could be cooled.
The FAA Inspector determined that there was no requirement for the FedEx airplane to notify ground control when starting an engine. FedEx does notify ground control when requesting a push back or performing maintenance engine run ups when in the parking or gate areas.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5329L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172 (S)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 172S9332
- Airframe hours
- 4,316
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360-L2A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Operator
- Flight School Hawaii, Inc., doing business as Flight School Hawaii
- Registered owner
- John Howard
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 8, 2008
- Departed
- PHNL · Honolulu, HI
- Destination
- PHNL · Honolulu, HI
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- PHNL · Honolulu International
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
- Flight instructor
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1
- Last flight review
- June 26, 2008
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 2,200 total · 2,100 in this make and model · 2,090 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 12 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- PHNL, 3 nm away
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 N5329L · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.