- Date
- February 1, 2011, 10:55 local (18:55 UTC)
- Place
- Eastsound, WA
- Injuries
- 1 serious
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N2718RCessna 182
- Defining event
- Standing-engine(s) start-up: Ground handling event
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 8, 2011
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 78258
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 properly secure the airplane prior to rotating the propeller by hand, resulting in inadvertent movement of the airplane and collision with a building.
Findings · 2
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 pulled the airplane out of the unheated hangar on a chilly morning and used the propeller to rotate the engine several times. He set the parking brake, and started the airplane with the starter, but then the engine stopped. The battery did not have sufficient charge to start the engine, so he decided to hand-prop the engine. He primed it, left the parking brake on, set the throttle to idle, turned the master switch and magneto switches on, and spun the propeller. The engine started but did not remain running. He started it again by hand propping. He advanced the throttle to keep it running, but again it did not remain running. He applied carburetor heat, but did not reduce the throttle setting. He hand-propped the engine once again and it went to a high rpm setting, and then the airplane began moving forward. The pilot reached in to try to retard the throttle, but was unsuccessful. He fell and hit his face on the landing gear footstep, which fractured his right cheekbone and caused deep lacerations above his right eye. The airplane continued to move until it collided with a hangar, with both wings sustaining substantial damage.
Factual narrative
The pilot pulled the airplane out of the unheated hangar on a chilly morning, and used the propeller to rotate the engine several times. He set the parking brake, and started the airplane with the starter, but then the engine stopped. The battery would not turn the engine over again, so he decided to hand prop the engine. He primed it, left the parking brake on, set the throttle to idle, turned the master switch and magneto switches on, and spun the propeller. The engine started, but quit. He started it again by hand propping. He advanced the throttle to keep it running, but it quit. He applied carburetor heat, but did not reduce the throttle setting. He hand propped the engine once again and it went to a high rpm setting, and then the airplane began moving forward. The pilot reached in to try and retard the throttle, but was unsuccessful. He fell, and hit his face on the landing gear footstep, which fractured his right cheekbone and caused deep lacerations above his right eye. The airplane continued to move until it collided with a hangar, with both wings sustaining substantial damage.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2718R
- Reported as
- Cessna 182 (K)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18258218
- Airframe hours
- 5,142
- Engine
- Teledyne Continental Motors O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Blinn Family Trust
- Registered owner
- Blinn Family Trust
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 2, 2010 · 75 hours before
- Departed
- ORS · Eastsound, WA
- Destination
- ORS · Eastsound, WA
- Airport
- ORS · Orcas Island, runway 34, 2,900 × 60 ft, asphalt
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 72
- Injuries
- Serious
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- October 21, 2010
- Flight hours
- 2,738 total · 866 in this make and model · 2,555 as pilot in command · 6 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 40° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 36 °F, dew point 25 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.61 inHg
- Observed at
- KORS
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on February 23, 2011, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.9 MB in all.