- Date
- September 27, 2009, 13:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Toledo, WA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N445BBAviat A-1B
- Defining event
- Taxi: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 15, 2009
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20090927018169A
- Case key
- 74826
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 tree while taxiing. Contributing to the accident was the pilot's distracted attention.
Findings · 3
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that he landed at a private airstrip and his friend was landing behind him. He taxied from the runway and was moving to the side of the airstrip while looking out the window as his friend landed. During the taxi, the left wing impacted a tree which turned the airplane and resulted in damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that no mechanical failures occurred prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he landed at a private airstrip and his friend was landing behind him. He taxied from the runway and was moving to the side of the airstrip while looking out the window as his friend landed. During the taxi, the left wing impacted a tree which turned the airplane and resulted in damage to the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer. The pilot stated that no mechanical failures occurred.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N445BB
- Reported as
- Aviat A-1B
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2314
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-360 A&C, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- TDO · Toldeo, WA
- Destination
- WN05 · Toledo, WA
- Airport
- WN05 · Harris 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
- 57
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 709 total · 369 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 10° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 66 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- CLS, 13 nm away
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on October 14, 2009, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 375 KB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.