Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fort Pierce/St. Lucie County Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fort Pierce, Florida 34982
Monday, December 6, 2004 12:43 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Two Piper airplanes were waiting to takeoff on runway 9 when they collided. The student pilot in N294PA, a Piper PA-181, stated that he completed his engine run-up in the designated engine run-up area and then taxied to the holding position for runway 9, at A-4. He brought his airplane to a stop behind N283PA, a Piper PA-201. He stated that he usually sets the parking brake, selects 1,000 engine rpm, and switches off the landing light. He does not remember doing these steps. He does remember holding pressure on the toe-brakes. As he waited, he turned around to look for a bottle of water in the back seat. When he did, he took his feet off the toe-brakes, thinking the parking brake was set. A moment later, while still turned around, he heard a loud bang and felt his airplane shaking. He immediately looked in front of him and saw that his propeller had hit the tail of the 201. The flight instructor on the 201 stated that he and his student had been holding second in line for departure for a few minutes prior to the accident. They felt an impact and their airplane skidded forward a few feet. He opened the cabin door and looked back to see the 181 behind them with the engine stopped, and the propeller spinner buried in the empennage of his airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot of the Piper 181to apply his parking brake when stopped awaiting departure and his failure to maintain a visual lookout resulting in his airplane rolling forward and colliding with the Piper 201 which was awaiting departure.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/6/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1243 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | Fort Pierce |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 34982 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 272942N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0802205W |
| Event Location Airport | Fort Pierce/St. Lucie County |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KFPR |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 23 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KFPR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2600 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1310 |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17197 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL. Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Dec 6 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 27 2005 3:52PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Orlando |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N294PA | N283PA |
| NTSB Number | MIA05LA042A | MIA05LA042B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No | No |
| Damage | Minor | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-28-181 | PA-28R-201 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 2843504 | 2844059 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 | 2750 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 29 2004 12:00AM | Nov 22 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 40 | 49 |
| Airframe Hours | 3089 | 3079 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services, Inc. | Boston Aviation Leasing, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 222 N. La Salle Street, FL 17 | 380 Hanscom Drive |
| Aircraft Owner City | Chicago | Bedford |
| Aircraft Owner State | IL | MA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 60601 | 01730 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | Pan Am Flight Academy | Pan Am Flight Academy |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No | No |
| Operator Street Address | 4220 Pan Am Blvd. | 4220 Pan Am Blvd. |
| Operator City | Fort Pierce | Fort Pierce |
| Operator State | FL | FL |
| Operator Country | USA | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 34982 | 34982 |
| Operator Code | -- | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | 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 | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | KFPR | KFPR |
| Departure City | Fort Pierce | Fort Pierce |
| Departure State | FL | FL |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 1743 | 1243 |
| Departure Time Zone | EST | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- | -- |
| Destination City | -- | -- |
| Destination State | -- | -- |
| Destination Country | -- | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - engine(s) operating | Standing - engine(s) operating |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA | NA |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |