Monday, January 30, 2012

Piper PA-28R-200 Cherokee Arrow II, N746R: Accident occurred January 30, 2012 in San Diego, California

http://registry.faa.gov/N746R

NTSB Identification: WPR12LA085 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, January 30, 2012 in San Diego, CA
Probable Cause Approval Date: 06/19/2013
Aircraft: PIPER PA-28R-200, registration: N746R
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

The passenger reported that he and the pilot were both seated in the airplane when the pilot made three unsuccessful attempts to start the engine. The pilot told the passenger to “get out, I need to jump it.” The passenger got out of the airplane and was walking away when he heard a noise. When he looked back toward the front of the airplane, he saw the pilot lying on the ground below the propeller. The airplane’s engine was not running. Postaccident examination revealed that the magneto switch was in the both position. It is likely that the pilot moved the propeller, and because the magnetos were in a ready-to-start condition, this resulted in a spark plug firing, which caused the propeller to turn rapidly and strike the pilot.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:

The pilot's failure to turn the magneto switch to the off position before moving the propeller to start the engine by hand.

On January 30, 2012, about 0830 Pacific standard time, the pilot of Piper PA-28R-200, N746R, was struck by the airplane’s propeller during engine start at Gillespie Field Airport, San Diego, California. He was fatally injured, and his passenger was not injured. There was no damage to the airplane. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, the private pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the planned personal cross-country flight, which was originating at the time of the accident.

The pilot was preparing for a flight to Bermuda Dunes, California. The passenger stated that they were seated in the airplane when the pilot made three unsuccessful attempts to start the engine. He told the passenger “get out, I need to jump it.” The passenger got out of the airplane and was walking away when he heard a noise. When he looked back towards the front of the airplane, he saw the pilot lying on the ground below the propeller. The airplane’s engine was not running.

Federal Aviation Administration inspectors responded to the scene of the accident and reported that photographs of the cockpit taken immediately after the accident by a local law enforcement officer showed that the magneto switch was in the both position, the mixture control was full forward (rich), the propeller control was full forward, the throttle control was about 1/4 travel forward, and the master switch was off.


NTSB Identification: WPR12LA085
 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, January 30, 2012 in San Diego, CA
Aircraft: PIPER PA-28R-200, registration: N746R
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
 

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
 

On January 30, 2012, about 0830 Pacific standard time, the pilot of Piper PA-28R-200, N746R, was struck by the airplane’s propeller during engine start at Gillespie Field Airport, San Diego, California. He was fatally injured, and his passenger was not injured. There was no damage to the airplane. The private pilot/owner was operating the flight under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the planned personal cross-country flight, which was originating at the time of the accident.

The pilot was preparing for a flight to Bermuda Dunes, California. The passenger stated that they were seated in the airplane when the pilot made three unsuccessful attempts to start the engine. He told the passenger “get out, I need to jump it.” The passenger got out of the airplane and was walking away when he heard a noise. When he looked back towards the front of the airplane, he saw the pilot lying on the ground below the propeller. The airplane’s engine was not running.


Heartland fire paramedics transported a person who was injured while turning over the prop of an airplane by hand and was struck by the prop at Gillespie Field in El Cajon. 









EL CAJON, Calif. -- A pilot died Monday after he was hit in the head by the propeller while trying to manually restart the engine of a small plane.  The accident happened at about 8:30 a.m. at Gillespie Field, said El Cajon spokeswoman Monica Zech.  A single-engine Piper plane with two pilots aboard was taxiing out to the runway when the engine apparently stalled, Zech said. One of the pilots got out of the cockpit and tried to restart the engine by manually turning the propeller, by the propeller struck him in the head, she said.

The man was gravely injured but still alive when he taken by ambulance to Sharp Memorial Hospital, Zech said. He died later at the hospital, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said.  The accident was under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the FAA and the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, she said.  According to an online aircraft registration database, the plane is a 4-seat Piper Cherokee PA-28R-200 built in 1974. It is registered to an owner who lives in Lakeside, Calif.