NTSB Identification: ERA14LA212
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, April 26, 2014 in Taylorsville, NC
Aircraft: CHAMPION 7ECA, registration: N9122E
Injuries: 1 Serious,1 Uninjured.
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 April 26, 2014, about 1239 eastern daylight time, a Champion 7ECA, N9122E was substantially damaged when it struck a riding mower during landing roll, shortly after landing at Taylorsville Airport (NC2), Taylorsville, North Carolina. The private pilot was uninjured. The mower operator was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the personal flight operated under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91, which departed from for Crossville Memorial Airport (CSV), Crossville, Tennessee.
According to the pilot, he departed CSV about 2 hours and 45 minutes prior to the accident and upon arriving at NC2, entered the left downwind leg of the traffic pattern for runway 08, and announced his position on Unicom. He did not however see the riding mower. After touch down on runway 08, "he lowered the tailwheel onto the ground" and then "saw" the riding mower about 150 feet in front of him. He then "slammed on the brakes" and the airplane's nose hit the ground and then slid with its nose on the ground until it "hit him." The airplane then nosed over, and came to rest on top of the riding mower. After the airplane came to rest, the pilot egressed out of "a window." The pilot could hear the mower operator "yelling" observed that the mower operator's left hand had been severed, and "called 911."
Examination of the riding mower revealed, that the riding mower was traveling east, parallel to the grass runway. Indicating that the mower operator would have been facing away from the airplane landing behind him, when he was struck by the airplane.
According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. His most recent application for a FAA third-class medical certificate was dated February 5, 2013. The pilot reported that he had accrued 824 total hours of flight experience on that date.
AIRCRAFT ON TAXI, STRUCK A PERSON ON THE GROUND, AND FLIPPED OVER, TAYLORSVILLE, NC
A single-engine plane ran over a man mowing the grass landing strip in Taylorsville, North Carolina, Saturday. The victim, who has been mowing the grass at the airport for about 40 years, lost a hand in the accident. The pilot was not injured. The landing strip has no radio communication.
Watch video: http://www.wsbt.com
A plane landing at the Taylorsville Airport Saturday morning hit and seriously injured a man who was mowing the grass landing strip, authorities said.
The accident severed 74-year-old John Rufty’s left hand, said Sgt. Brian Owenby of the N.C. State Highway Patrol, who said the pilot of the single-engine plane was not hurt.
The victim was taken by helicopter to Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, according to Russell Greene, director of Alexander County Emergency Services.
The pilot was taxiing eastbound, said Owenby; Rufty was mowing in the same direction, with his back to the plane. The pilot had circled the airport before coming in, but didn’t see the mower until the last second, Owenby said, and the impact flipped the plane over onto its top. Greene said the mower also flipped over.
Greene said the pilot was from Tennessee. The pilot has not been identified yet by authorities.
Greene said the National Transportation Safety Board had been notified about the accident.
TAYLORSVILLE, N.C. — The National Transportation Safety Board was contacted after a plane hit a man on his lawn mower at the Taylorsville Airport, according to police.
The accident happened on the airport's grass landing strip.
The pilot told Channel 9 Eyewitness reporter Alexa Ashwell he was attempting to land and didn't see the man on the lawn mower until it was too late.
Alexander Emergency Services Director Russell Greene said the victim's hand was severed in the accident.
He was taken by medical helicopter to North Carolina Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem.
The investigation is ongoing.
Return to www.wsoctv.com and watch Eyewitness News at 6 p.m. for more on this developing story.
TAYLORSVILLE NC - A man mowing grass at Taylorsville Airport was hit by a landing single-engine plane Saturday afternoon.
The man was airlifted from the grass field to the hospital.
Unconfirmed reports state the man's hand was severed
The man was struck while mowing on a riding lawnmower.
The right wing of the plane struck the man.
The plane flipped end over end and came to a a stop on its roof.
The pilot walked away from the crash uninjured.
This story will be updated when more information is available
