- Date
- April 9, 1989, 17:10 local (21:10 UTC)
- Place
- West Palm Beach, FL
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N80440Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 29, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Case key
- 32422
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
Failure of the pilot to insure adequate wingtip clearance while taxiing.
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 taxiing on the empty ramp, the lt wing of the acft collided with a fence. Prior to this acident arpt operations personnel placed reflectors on the fence to increase visibility of it. As a result of this accident, operations personnel painted yellow reflective diagonal lines on the ground about 5 feet away from the curb.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N80440
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17266587
- Airframe hours
- 2,904
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 160 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Chandelle Aviation
- Registered owner
- Rocky, John
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · February 24, 1989 · 96 hours before
- Departed
- MYGF · Freeport, OF
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PBI · Palm Beach Int'L
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
- 38
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 350 total · 35 in this make and model · 261 as pilot in command · 65 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 13 knots, gusting 21
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 82 °F, dew point 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PBI