- Date
- April 10, 2006, 08:00 local (14:00 UTC)
- Place
- Havre, MT
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N2831CCessna 170B
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 63486
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 improper starting procedures in attempting to hand-prop the airplane's engine. Contributing factors were the discharged battery, the failure of the right parking brake and the hangar which the aircraft collided with.
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/owner discovered the airplane's battery had discharged over the winter months, and was attempting to start the airplane by hand propping it. The pilot reported that he had set the parking brake, and that the right brake failed during the starting procedure; the airplane taxied into a hangar without an occupant on board. The outboard two feet of the right wing was bent and wrinkled, and the right flap was pushed into the fuselage. The Cessna 170B maintenance manual states that a discharged battery should be charged on the ground before attempting flight. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Training Handbook, AC 61-21A, states: "It is recommended that an engine never be 'hand propped' unless a qualified person thoroughly familiar with the operation of all the controls is seated at the controls and the brakes set."
Factual narrative
On April 10, 2006, at approximately 0800 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 170B, N2831C, was substantially damaged when the airplane taxied into a hangar without an occupant on board at Havre City Airport, Havre, Montana. The commercial pilot was not injured. The pilot/owner discovered the airplane's battery had discharged over the winter months, and was attempting to start the airplane by hand propping it. The pilot reported that he had set the parking brake, and that the right brake failed during the starting procedure. The outboard two feet of the right wing was bent and wrinkled, and the right flap was pushed into the fuselage.
The Cessna 170B maintenance manual states that a discharged battery should be charged on the ground before attempting flight. The Federal Aviation Administration’s Flight Training Handbook, AC 61-21A, states: "It is recommended that an engine never be 'hand propped' unless a qualified person thoroughly familiar with the operation of all the controls is seated at the controls and the brakes set."
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2831C
- Reported as
- Cessna 170B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 26374
- Airframe hours
- 2,550
- Engine
- Continental O-300, 145 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- John R. Alex
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 1, 2005 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- Havre, MT
- Airport
- HVR · Havre City-County 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
- 63
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 1, 2005
- Flight hours
- 2,100 total · 1,750 in this make and model · 0 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 300° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 37 °F, dew point 30 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.67 inHg
- Observed at
- HVR