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Cessna 172 pilot hits SUV at crowded airport

By NASA · January 26, 2023 ·

This is an excerpt from a report made to the Aviation Safety Reporting System. The narrative is written by the pilot, rather than FAA or NTSB officials. To maintain anonymity, many details, such as aircraft model or airport, are often scrubbed from the reports.

I flew a Cessna 172 from the ZZZ1 to ZZZ to pick up another pilot and return to ZZZ1.

Arriving at ZZZ, the apron was crowded with planes, including one at both fuel pumps. I taxied to the back of the apron towards the hangars to the only clear space to park the plane.

I shut down the engine, got out and located the other pilot. We got in the airplane and I went through the startup portion of the standard checklist, but I did not perform a walk-around.

The apron was still crowded and there was a taxiway directly in front of me that made a left turn up ahead and joined the main taxiway and on to the runway.

I said to the other pilot, “Let’s just taxi straight ahead.” I no sooner started moving when the plane jerked to the right. We got out and saw that someone had parked an SUV car between the hangar and the taxiway with the rear hatch door up.

The leading edge of the wing had contacted the upper edge of the hatch door making a short crease in the outer end leading edge. There was no damage to the car door at all. We could not locate the owner of the car.

There was no effect or any distortion of the upper and lower parts of the wing, the plane seemed airworthy so we returned to the home airport.

The return flight was uneventful, the plane performed normally.

In the future I would always make a walk-around even if on the ground for a short time.

Also, in crowded airport conditions, look ahead from outside the plane for any obstructions in the direction I would be taxiing.

Primary Problem: Human Factors

ACN: 1926560

About NASA

NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS) captures confidential reports, analyzes the resulting aviation safety data, and disseminates vital information to the aviation community.

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Comments

  1. Cary Alburn says

    February 2, 2023 at 6:19 pm

    Hmmm. Did he forget that a 172 is roughly 36’ “wide”? Apparently.

    Incidentally, that “short crease” on the wing made the airplane unairworthy. An IA could determine that it was safe to fly to a repair station and obtain a ferry permit from the FAA to do so, but the pilot had no such authority. Flying it without having it inspected was risky, in addition to being illegal.

  2. Steve says

    January 29, 2023 at 10:48 am

    The professional level of the pilots these days is astoundingly low. They will eventually kill themselves one day with their lack of effort.

  3. Mr.X says

    January 28, 2023 at 5:16 am

    No, they both got in on the same side because the SUV was blocking the other door

    /s

    • MikeNY says

      January 28, 2023 at 9:04 pm

      I believe that. Stupid Pilot trick #1139 😉

  4. Doug says

    January 27, 2023 at 8:17 pm

    At some point, the NTSB and FAA need to learn that human or pilot error is a symptom, not a cause.

  5. scott k patterson says

    January 27, 2023 at 5:30 am

    Interesting since one person got in on the right side and another from the left.

    • Nigel PADGHAM says

      January 27, 2023 at 3:38 pm

      A walk around is required for every flight- this is self confessed pilot error – you cannot blame others for your own negligence

    • ruko says

      January 28, 2023 at 3:49 pm

      Like he said, the SUV was blocking the entrance but they didn’t see it, I guess.

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