- Date
- May 24, 1994, 18:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Groton, CT
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N6891HCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 2, 1994
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19940524012629A
- Case key
- 38762
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 inadequate visual lookout during taxi, which resulted in the airplane's wing tip striking ground support equipment.
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 landed at the destination airport and was cleared to taxi to the restaurant parking area by the control tower. While taxiing across the ramp toward the parking area, the right wing of the airplane struck a deicing trailer that was parked adjacent to a fence. The pilot and passengers stated that they were looking left and did not observe the trailer. A witness stated that it appeared that the airplane tried to maneuver between another airplane and the trailer.
Factual narrative
On May 24, 1994, about 1845 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172M, operated by JAMM INC., and piloted by Donald W. Palmer, was substantially damaged when it struck a de-icing tower while taxing at the Groton-New London Airport (GON), Groton, Connecticut. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan had not been filed for the flight operating under 14 CFR 91.
In the NTSB Form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated that after landing at the GON Airport he had been cleared by the control tower to taxi to the restaurant parking area. He further stated:
"...I turned left onto Hotel and moved slowly into parking area...My intention was to taxi straight ahead and turn left behind a plane that was parked on the lot and turn around facing forward. The next thing I knew I heard a sound and thought I went into a pothole or went over a tiedown...I realized I hit what later turned out to be a deicing trailer...I was looking to the left and ahead where I was going to park the plane..."
An aircraft mechanic, in the GON control tower at the time of the accident stated:
"...I watched as a Cessna 172 taxied from runway 15, across the west side of the terminal parking ramp, in a northwest direction towards the restaurant parking. An aircraft de-icing stand was parked adjacent to the fence which borders the restaurant parking area...It appeared as though the pilot was trying to maneuver his C172 between the de-ice stand and the parked aircraft, when his right wing tip hit the de-ice stand causing the plane to pivot about 90 degrees hard to the right..."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N6891H
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17265630
- Airframe hours
- 3,002
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Jamm Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 2, 1993 · 144 hours before
- Departed
- HFD · Hartford, CT
- Airport
- GON · Groton-New London
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
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 153 total · 153 in this make and model · 72 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 140° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 59 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GON
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.