- Date
- April 30, 2006, 16:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Billings, MT
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N739AJCessna 172N
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 29, 2006
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 20060430007179A
- Case key
- 63702
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 clearance from a sign while taxiing to parking.
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
According to the pilot, as he was looking to his right to taxi into a parking place on the ramp, the airplane's left wing struck a sign pole. His passenger tried to warn him about the sign, and he applied the brakes, but was unable to stop before contacting the sign. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the left wing sustained structural damage.
Factual narrative
On April 30, 2006, about 1600 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N739AJ, collided with a sign while taxiing to parking at the Billings Logan International Airport, Billings, Montana. The airplane, which was registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal cross country flight. The flight originated in Lewiston, Idaho, about 1310, and the intended destination was Billings.
According to the pilot, as he was looking to his right to taxi into a parking place on the ramp, the airplane's left wing struck a sign pole. His passenger tried to warn him about the sign, and he applied the brakes, but was unable to stop before contacting the sign. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the left wing sustained structural damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N739AJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 172N
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17270387
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- LWS · Lewiston, ID
- Destination
- BIL · Billings, MT
- Airport
- BIL · Billings Logan International
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
- 56
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3
- Flight hours
- 849 total · 690 in this make and model · 25 in the last 90 days · 20 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.