According to the pilot, during taxi at night, he turned off his anti-collision lights because they were “creating a disco effect.”
On the taxiway, and heading to his hangar at the airport in Boerne, Texas, he noticed an automobile that was converging on the same taxiway.
He expected the automobile to turn off the taxiway. When it didn’t turn, he increased the throttle and turned the lights on and off to get the driver’s attention.
However, the automobile and the airplane collided.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the forward right-side fuselage and the right wing.
The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable cause: The ground vehicle driver’s decision to drive on an active taxiway at night and failure to yield to taxiing aircraft, resulting in a collision with a taxiing aircraft.
NTSB Identification: GAA18CA111
This January 2018 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.
Regardless of what the schools say or the airlines practice, if a car or aircraft is coming at you at night, I would turn on all the lights available so as to be seen, and try to get the heck out of the way. What the flight schools say is only a guild, it is not etched in concrete, you have to do what you need to do in order to stay safe and survive……
Agree and you are absolutely right!
I would like wide have turned on my lights in order to avoid an incident like that.
Dave
This confrontation is likely a common occurrence at this airport with cars having to use the main [ only ] taxiway to get to any hangar.
The car drivers should be alert for aircraft. I’ll call this one ‘Stupid Driver tricks’.
I would have turned off the taxiway onto the grass if the car isn’t stopping or moving over.
It’s confusing, but I’m thinking he “increased” throttle to make more noise but didn’t speed up (basically stayed on the brakes).
If something is imminent in hitting me while taxiing, I’ve always wondered if I’d be caught between a decision to shutdown (to avoid hurting someone and to avoid an engine tear down due to a prop strike – lycoming engine) or try to maneuver and avoid (and keep the engine running).
The form 6120 had him state that he closed the throttle and STOPPED, but the car continued and ran into the aircraft.
5C1 is a private airport. Vehicle assess to the hangars is from the taixway. There is no roadside access to the hangars…a poor design, forcing vehicles to use the main taxiway to get to a hangar.
I would expect to have frequent aircraft-car head on situations here.
I suspected I was missing something as what was written made no sense. Still hard to imagine the driver missing the flashing landing lights. Where is a good air horn when you need one…
I must be missing something, why increase throttle if you are on a collision course on the ground. Brakes & Engine shutdown would be my choice prior to collision.
Not a situation that is typically encountered but maybe it would be better to turn on ALL lights whenever a ground vehicle is spotted on a taxiway/runway or really anywhere near an aircraft. Also while not required, a red rotating (or flashing) beacon is good for enhancing ground visibility when so equipped since strobes are not usually practical at night. In my experience an aircraft with just the normal position lights (red/green/white) turned on is not all that easy to see at times among all the other lights on an airfield so at least keep the landing/taxi lights on whenever practical.
Flight schools always teach us to turn off both the strobes
and landing lights when taxing at night. The idea is that both
of these may/will blind other pilots who are in close proximity
to our airplane.
We only use position lights and the beacon when taxing, not
even the taxi light when on the ground at night. In order to see,
we follow the taxiway and runway lights (at night)
My flight training was at a USAF aero club, and we turned off the strobes on the ground day or night. But, at night, we always used the taxi light on the ground, when moving, along with the anti-collision and position lights.
If we were not moving, like in the run up area, the taxi light was off; the procedures that the airlines use.
Using the taxi light, allows you to see what is on the taxi way ahead..fod or ??
Not any flight school I’ve been associated with. Explain how you managed to tangle with a skunk– no physical damage to the plane, but no one will go near it for days.
And you want to put that in a (your) hangar? If you have hangar neighbors, they may not like you much.
Perhaps its been awhile since you went to a flight
school. Doctrines and philosophies change over time.
I explained the rationale that was used and why that
was, and is, being taught to new pilots. While it would be questionable in my mind, it is what it is. At night, I
still use the lights myself (but not the strobes when on
the ground). Vehicles on the ramp are not an issue, but other planes are.
It’s an interesting topic. The old way was usually to turn off the strobes after landing. These habits can be absorbed by some schools or pilots as something you never fail to do, almost like it’s uncivil or unprofessional to taxi with strobes on. Another procedure we used was to never fail to stop after clearing and executing the full after-landing checklist. But when the airport was very busy as it was often, this caused an unacceptable backup to the landing and approaching traffic. It resulted in a meeting with the tower and airport manager. When we told them our after-landing procedure, the airport manager, who was not a pilot, said well you can do that on the ramp. That seemed shocking at first but after thinking it through, I thought he was exactly right. It may look weird to taxi with the flaps down, but it isn’t going to hurt anything. The only exception was maybe getting the carb heat off on those models so as not to pull unfiltered air into the engine. As far as lights, I think the more the better, with the appropriate exceptions for safety of when the reflection of the strobes actually bothers the pilot during taxi or someone on the ramp.
Stupid!
Was that a typo, about increasing engine speed, sure it was not he decreased his engine speed ????
The NTSB report says “the pilot increased the throttle”. The pilot’s report says he “pulled the throttle to idle”.