- Date
- June 24, 2001, 22:30 local (Jun 25, 2001, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- Tampa, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N152LECessna 152
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed · report October 9, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20010624023419A
- Case key
- 52569
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 maintain a visual look out while taxing an airplane for parking resulting in an on ground collision with a fixed object (Hangar/Building.)
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 pilot was asked by a lineman to turn the airplane around after returning from a flight. The student pilot made a u-turn and the right wing collided with a hangar.
Factual narrative
On June 24, 2001, at about 2230 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 152, N152LE, registered to Leading Edge Aviation Services, operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 instructional flight, collided with a hangar while taxiing to park at the Vandenberg Airport, Tampa, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage and the student pilot reported no injuries. The flight originated from Ocala, Florida, about 1 hour 30 minutes before the accident.
The pilot stated in his initial statement, "When I landed I taxied over to Bret and then parked. He told me to turn the plane around so I did and then I hit the building with the right wing."
The pilot stated in the statement submitted with the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report that, after landing he taxied to the ramp and pulled into a parking space and was about to shut the airplane down when the lineman directed him towards a hangar. He continued forward until the lineman told him to stop. The lineman came up to the window and asked him to turn the plane around so he could push it into the hangar. He agreed and turned the airplane to the right making a U-turn. The lineman was in front and directed him in and the middle part of the right wing collided with the hangar.
The lineman stated the pilot pulled up and stopped and was doing something in the airplane with the instrument panel. He approached the cockpit window and asked the pilot if he could turn the airplane so the tail was facing the door. The pilot acknowledged that he would do it and he stepped away from the plane so the pilot could turn the airplane. He walked straight out away from the airplane and hangar to give him plenty of room. "He made a right turn went past the corner of the building turned the plane in a 180 degree circle coming in the other direction he was just going. I was to far out to see he was going to hit the building to stop him. He struck the corner of the building with his right wing."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N152LE
- Reported as
- Cessna 152
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15280172
- Airframe hours
- 10,209
- Engine
- Lycoming O-235-L2C, 125 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Leading Edge Aviation Services
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 15, 2001 · 25 hours before
- Departed
- OCF · Ocala, FL
- Destination
- VDF · Tampa, FL
- Airport
- VDF · Vandenberg Airport
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
- 20
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Student
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 61 total · 12 in this make and model · 11 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 72 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.26 inHg
- Observed at
- TPA
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.