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Travel Air pilot hits plane on ground

By NTSB · November 5, 2018 ·

The pilot of the tailwheel-equipped Curtiss Wright Travel Air 4000 reported that he was cleared to taxi to the departure runway at the airport in San Diego.

While taxiing, he was doing S-turns to see over the nose of his airplane, and “must have missed a call to the aircraft ahead of him,” which had been instructed to hold short of the upcoming taxiway.

His airplane hit the empennage of the stopped airplane that was holding short.

His airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, and the stopped airplane sustained substantial damage to the empennage.

Both pilots reported no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with their airplanes that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable cause: The pilot’s failure to see and avoid the airplane stopped ahead of him during taxi.

NTSB Identification: GAA17CA077A

This November 2016 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.

About NTSB

The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent federal agency charged by Congress with investigating every civil aviation accident in the United States and significant events in the other modes of transportation, including railroad, transit, highway, marine, pipeline, and commercial space. It determines the probable causes of accidents and issues safety recommendations aimed at preventing future occurrences.

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Comments

  1. enrique says

    November 6, 2018 at 6:45 am

    travel air hits plane, a very strange way to say, travel air collides with another plane on the ground.????

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