Aero Country Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Mckinney, Texas 75071
Saturday, December 3, 2011 20:48 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After returning from a short night flight, the airplane was parked on a ramp in front of a hangar to deplane the passenger and take another person on a flight. The engine was at idle power and the propeller was turning. The pilot stated that he leaned across the airplane and opened the right door so the passenger could exit. When he saw that she was exiting toward the front of the airplane, he put his arm out and told her to walk toward the rear after exiting. Once the pilot saw that the passenger was clear of the wing strut and walking away, he lowered his arm. A witness who was walking from the hangar toward the airplane saw that the passenger was walking toward the front of the aircraft. He yelled for her to stop, and a second later she hit the propeller from the rear and fell to the ground. He noticed that the pilot immediately shut the engine down and then called emergency services. FAA Advisory Circular (AC) 91-42D, "Hazards of Rotating Propeller and Helicopter Rotor Blade,” states that a propeller under power, even at slow idling speed, has sufficient force to inflict injuries. It cautions that the engine “should be shut down before boarding or deplaning passengers.” It further states that “when it is necessary to discharge a passenger from an aircraft on which an engine is running, never stop the aircraft with the propeller in the path of the passenger’s route from the aircraft.”

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The passenger's inadvertent contact with a rotating propeller after exiting the parked airplane. Contributing to the accident were the dark night conditions and the deplaning of the passenger while the propeller was turning.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 12/3/2011
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 2048
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City McKinney
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 75071
Event Date Year 2011
Event Date Month 12
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 331230N
Event Location Longitude 0964430W
Event Location Airport Aero Country Airport
Event Location Nearest Airport ID T31
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 --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2027 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID TKI
Elevation of weather observation facility 585
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Night/Dark
Lowest Ceiling Height 3900
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 12
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.07
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 31183
NTSB Notification Source FAA Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 4 2013 2:34PM
User who most recently changed record bakd
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N62WY
NTSB Number CEN12LA125
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage None
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name AVIAT AIRCRAFT INC
Aircraft Model A-1C-180
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 3131
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Jul 14 2011 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 26
Airframe Hours 26
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Shell Aviation LLC
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City McKinney
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75071
Operator is an individual? Yes
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
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 T31
Departure City McKinney
Departure State TX
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code T31
Destination City McKinney
Destination State TX
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight --
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 4 2013 1:57PM
User who most recently changed record lema
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --