- Date
- November 8, 1997, 13:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Elberta, AL
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 17 uninjured; on the ground: 1 fatal
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N1022Sde Havilland DHC-6-6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 2, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19971108040799A
- Case key
- 38432
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
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Probable cause
The NTSB’s determination of the probable cause, and any contributing factors.
a passenger's inadvertent encounter with a rotating propeller.
Analysis
During the loading of 17 parachutists, a 31-year-old male parachutist notified the loader/jump master that on his next jump he would have a smoke canister on the airplane and that the pilot should be notified. The loader/jump master told him, '...that to notify the pilot would be his (the loader's) job, that he [the parachutist] was just to board the aircraft.' The loader started boarding the jumpers and he went forward to give the pilot the information. The loader/jump master said, '...disregarding [his] the loaders instructions the subject walked from the rear left area and proceeded straight to the cockpit door where the loader and pilot were. In spite of several people hollering at him the subject walked into the left side engine propeller....'
Factual narrative
On November 8, 1997, about 1315 central standard time, a Dehavilland DHC-6-6, N1022S, registered to Fayard Enterprises Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91, local parachute jump flight, was standing with both engines operating when a parachutist boarding the airplane was struck by the left propeller and fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane received minor damage. The airline transport pilot and 16 other parachutists were not injured. The flight was originating at the time.
According to the FAA, 17 parachutists were boarding the airplane. A 31-year-old male parachutist made an attempt to walk between the left side of the fuselage and the left engine, when he was struck by the left engine propeller. The fatally injured parachutist had made one previous jump in N1022S earlier that day, and according to the FAA, had more then 250 jumps to his credit.
The loader/jump master stated, the subject parachutist notified him that on his next jump he would have a smoke canister on the airplane and that the pilot should be notified. The loader/jump master told him, "...that to notify the pilot would be his (the loader's) job, that he [the parachutist] was just to board the aircraft." The loader started boarding the jumpers and he went forward to give the pilot the information. The loader/jump master said, "...disregarding [his] the loaders instructions the subject walked from the rear left area and proceeded straight to the cockpit door where the loader and pilot were. In spite of several people hollering at him the subject walked into the left side engine propeller...."
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.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1022S
- Reported as
- de Havilland DHC-6-6
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 79
- Airframe hours
- 23,552
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-20, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Skydiving · Part 91
- Operator
- Emerald Coast Skydiving Center
- Registered owner
- Fayard Enterprises Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · October 10, 1997 · 18 hours before
- Departed
- 7J9
- Airport
- 7J9 · Horak
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
- 40
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11,816 total · 200 in this make and model · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 57 °F, dew point 39 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MOB, 10 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.