Doylestown Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Doylestown, Pennsylvania 18901
Saturday, January 26, 2002 15:40 EST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The student pilot had just landed after a solo flight and was taxing back to the fixed base operator when he attempted to pass a parked fuel truck. As he taxied passed the truck, the right wing clipped the truck's right rear view mirror. The airplane then pivoted to the right, and the spinner and propeller collided with the side of the truck. The student pilot reported a total of 27.9 flight hours in single-engine aircraft, of which 1.3 hours were solo. He also reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane. When asked how this accident could have been prevented, the student pilot said: "Moving more away from the truck and paying more attention to where the truck is."

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

pilot's failure to maintain clearance between the airplane and a parked fuel truck while taxing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 1/26/2002
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1540
Event Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Event City DOYLESTOWN
Event State PENNSYLVANIA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 18901
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 1
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport DOYLESTOWN
Event Location Nearest Airport ID DYL
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 394
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1554 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID DYL
Elevation of weather observation facility 394
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 240
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 6
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.14
Density Altitude (feet) -89
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12077
NTSB Notification Source FAA FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Feb 4 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 950
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2002 9:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office ALLENTOWN FAA/FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N172P
NTSB Number IAD02LA029
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 172P
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 172-74572
Certified Max Gross Weight 2550
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Nov 8 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours 3415.4
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name CIVIL AIR PATROL NATIONAL HEADQUATERS
Aircraft Owner Street Address MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State AL
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name TWIN COMPOSITE SQUANDRON
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address TRENTON-MERCER AIRPORT
Operator City TRENTON
Operator State NJ
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Instructional
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code DYL
Departure City DOYLESTOWN
Departure State PA
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1530
Departure Time Zone EST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code DYL
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Taxi
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record May 17 2002 3:41PM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location 23
Runway Length 3000
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --