- Date
- May 3, 1998, 11:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Ocean Shores, WA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N1673VCessna 172M
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 12, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980503021189A
- Case key
- 42782
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 light standard (utility pole) just off the edge of the parking ramp. Factors include a light standard placed near the edge of the parking ramp.
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
After landing, the pilot started to park in a spot near the southeast end of the parking ramp. Seeing that there were no tie-down ropes in that row, he decided to taxi to a spot at the far west part of the ramp. While attempting to park the aircraft in a tie-down location on the western most row, he failed to see a light standard (utility pole) located just off the western edge of the ramp. As he began his turn to align the aircraft with the parking spot, the aircraft's right wing impacted the pole.
Factual narrative
On May 3, 1998, approximately 1130 Pacific daylight time, the right wing of a Cessna 172M, N1673V, impacted a light pole while being taxied to a parking spot at Ocean Shores Municipal Airport, Ocean Shores, Washington. The commercial pilot and his two passengers were not injured, but the aircraft, which is owned and operated by Evergreen Flying Club, Bellevue, Washington, sustained substantial damage. The 14 CFR Part 91 flight, which departed Renton, Washington, about two hours earlier, was being operated in visual meteorological conditions at the time of the accident. While en route to Ocean Shores, the pilot had been on an IFR flight plan, but he had canceled IFR prior to landing. There was no report of an ELT activation.
According to the pilot, after landing on runway 33 at Ocean Shores, he turned off the runway at the midfield exit and entered the southeast corner of the parking ramp. He pulled into a parking spot near the southeast corner, but realized there were no tie-down ropes. He therefore proceeded to the last row of tie-downs on the west edge of the ramp and started a left turn to line up with one of those spots. Soon after starting the left turn, the aircraft's right wing impacted a telephone pole located near the edge of the parking ramp. The pole was being used as a light standard for lights that illuminate the parking ramp.
Although the FAA made the NTSB aware on May 4, that there was a report of an aircraft having sustained damage at Ocean Shores on May 3, the pilot did not contact the NTSB until May 11.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1673V
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17263708
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Evergreen Flying Club
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility; Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 28, 1998
- Departed
- RNT · Renton, WA
- Destination
- S26
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- W04 · Ocean Shores Municipal
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 823 total · 374 in this make and model · 690 as pilot in command · 12 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,300 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N1673V · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.