Little Falls/Morrison County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Little Falls, Minnesota 56345
Monday, September 30, 2002 17:45 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airplane departed and impacted a building and trees, without the pilot, after the pilot hand started the airplane without anyone aboard the airplane. The parking brake reportedly "let go," and the pilot then tripped and fell while attempting to reach into the airplane to grab the throttle after the engine started. Federal Aviation Administration guidance for hand starting an airplane states that a qualified person should be at the controls while a second is hand propping the airplane. Also, the airplane should be securely chocked or tied down and the fuel selector valve may be set to "off" with proper priming and then set to "on" once the engine has been started.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The inadequate starting procedure by the pilot.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/30/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1745
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Little Falls
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 56345
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 455659N
Event Location Longitude 0942051W
Event Location Airport LITTLE FALLS/MORRISON COUNTY
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LXL
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 1122
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1742 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID LXL
Elevation of weather observation facility 1122
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
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) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 27
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 16
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 210
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 5
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.55
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13315
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Oct 3 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 945
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 13 2003 12:26PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Minneapolis FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N50107
NTSB Number CHI02LA298
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 Taylorcraft
Aircraft Model DCO-65
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number L-4984
Certified Max Gross Weight 1300
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 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Holeman Hobos Flying Club Inc
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1362 Brede
Aircraft Owner City St. Paul
Aircraft Owner State MN
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 55108
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code STC
Destination City St. Cloud
Destination State MN
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Standing - starting engine(s)
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Mar 28 2003 9:31AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --