Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Forrest City Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Forrest City, Arkansas 72335
Friday, February 24, 2006 10:30 CST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Personnel at the airport reported that the battery on the tailwheel equipped airplane was low. The pilot subsequently proceeded to attempt to start the engine by hand-propping. The engine started at a high power setting. The propeller struck the pilot's head and the airplane began to taxi in a right circle while unattended. The right wing tip collided with a hangar door and continued in a larger right circle, subsequently colliding with a parked agricultural airplane, causing substantial damage to the parked airplane. The flight had been schedule to confirm water content on selected agricultural fields prior to dispatching agricultural aircraft for aerial application operations. The airplane was not tied-down and no one was onboard the airplane when the hand-propping was attempted. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector at the scene of the accident confirmed substantial damage to both aircraft. Both propeller blades were found bent forward and had sections of aluminum missing along the leading edges. The left wing leading edge was significantly bent back and wrinkled when it impacted the parked aerial application airplane. The cabin area of the parked airplane sustained structural damage and the windscreen was broken-out.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to follow proper procedures while attempting to start the engine by hand-proping the engine.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/24/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1030 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Standard Time |
| Event City | Forrest City |
| Event State | ARKANSAS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 72335 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | Yes |
| Event Location Latitude | 345611N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0904618W |
| Event Location Airport | Forrest City Municipal Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KFCY |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 249 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1040 Central Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KUTA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 194 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 29 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 12000 |
| 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) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.34 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21604 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 25 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 27 2007 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Little Rock, Arkansas |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9007L |
| NTSB Number | DFW06LA074 |
| 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 | Champion |
| Aircraft Model | 7ECA |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 752-70 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1540 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Feb 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 1825 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Dwight W. Benefield |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 213 SFC 515 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Heth |
| Aircraft Owner State | AR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 72346 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 213 SFC 515 |
| Operator City | Heth |
| Operator State | AR |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 72346 |
| 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) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FCY |
| Departure City | Forrest City |
| Departure State | AR |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1030 |
| Departure Time Zone | CST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | Forrest City |
| Destination State | AR |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Standing - starting engine(s) |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 26 2007 4:02PM |
| User who most recently changed record | CASH |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |