- Date
- March 31, 2020, 15:45 local (22:45 UTC)
- Place
- Palm Springs, CA
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Taxi
- Aircraft
- N679XPiper PA28R
- Defining event
- Taxi: Ground collision
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 27, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20200331004619A
- Case key
- 101151
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 see and avoid a parked vehicle near the taxiway edge.
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, while taxiing to the runway, the airplane veered hard to the left. He shut down the engine and saw that the left wing had struck the windshield of a small truck parked at the edge of the taxiway near a hangar. He stated that, due to its location and color, neither he nor his passenger saw the truck because it blended in with the background of the hangar. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that while taxiing to the runway, the airplane veered hard to the left. He shut down the engine and saw that the left wing had struck the windshield of a small truck that was parked at the edge of the taxiway. Neither he nor his passenger saw the truck as the color of the truck blended in with the background of a hangar. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the left wing. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N679X
- Reported as
- Piper PA28R (201T)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 28R-7703101
- Built
- 1977
- Airframe hours
- 8,288.5
- Engine
- Continental TSIO-360-B1, 200 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 5, 2019 · 84 hours before
- Departed
- UDD · Palm Springs, CA
- Destination
- UDD · Palm Springs, CA
- Airport
- UDD · Bermuda Dunes
- Equipment
- ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Stall warning system
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 44
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- September 25, 2019
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 168 total · 96 in this make and model · 81 as pilot in command · 9 in the last 90 days · 1 in the last 30 days
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Private, Remote
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 3-point
- Flight hours
- 0 total · 0 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 320° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.09 inHg
- Observed at
- KPSP, 12 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on June 27, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.0 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.