- Date
- August 14, 2013, 12:00 local (19:00 UTC)
- Place
- Metaline Falls, WA
- Injuries
- 3 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N8160LCessna 172H
- Defining event
- Taxi-to runway: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 4, 2014
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- FAA report
- 20130814014779A
- Case key
- 87782
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 windsock pole while taxiing.
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 was taxiing to the north, on the west side of the runway outside of the runway markers in preparation for takeoff. While maneuvering the airplane around a pothole, he lost sight of the windsock pole in the clutter of trees lining the airport boundary. Subsequently, the left wing struck the windsock pole, resulting in substantial damage to the wing spar. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot was taxiing to the north, on the west side of the runway outside of the runway markers in preparation for takeoff. While maneuvering the airplane around a pothole, he lost sight of the windsock pole in the clutter of trees lining the airport boundary. Subsequently, the left wing struck the windsock pole, resulting in substantial damage to the wing spar. The pilot reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8160L
- Reported as
- Cessna 172H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17256360
- Built
- 1967
- Airframe hours
- 3,764
- Engine
- Franklin 6A-350, 220 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Dier Joseph M Sr
- Registered owner
- Dier Joseph M Sr
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 25, 2013
- Departed
- 09S · Metaline Falls, WA
- Destination
- 65S · Boundry, CO
- Airport
- 09S · Sullivan Lake State, runway 16, 1,765 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 59
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, With waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- March 24, 2012
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 614 total · 612 in this make and model · 614 as pilot in command · 57 in the last 90 days · 29 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F
Docket · 1
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 19, 2013, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.3 MB 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.