Piper PA-28-161 N104SA

Summary

On 19 January 2015 at about 00:30 local time, a Piper PA-28-161 registered N104SA was involved in an accident near Alexander City, Alabama, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 January 2015 at 00:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Alexander City, Alabama, United States

Nearest airport

Thomas C. Russell Field (ALX)

Coordinates

32.9147, -85.9628

Aircraft

Piper PA-28-161

Registration

N104SA

Category

Airplane

Year built

1979

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Alexander City → Ozark

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Night/Dark

NTSB number

ERA15CA107

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's failure to properly secure the airplane before hand-propping the engine for startup.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On the day of the accident, the pilot had to get the airplane jumpstarted as the battery was low on energy. Later during his flight home, he landed at an airport to refuel. After refueling, he attempted to start the engine. The battery however, was too weak to start the engine. The pilot then checked the parking brake was engaged and got out to look for his portable jump starter pack in the storage compartment. It was not however onboard. He then proceeded to look for someone to assist in starting. Not finding anyone, he went back to the airplane and set the mixture to full rich, opened the throttle about 10 percent, primed the engine about 8 to 10 times, turned the magneto switch to "BOTH", checked the parking brake, and attempted to hand-prop the engine twice without success. He then checked these items again and once again attempted to hand-prop the engine. The engine still failed to start. He assumed the engine was flooded. Therefore, he set the mixture to idle cutoff, turned off the magnetos, and checked the parking brake once again. He then got out of the aircraft and prior to touching the propeller, visually looked in the cabin to check that the key for the magneto switch wasn't in the "BOTH" position. He then hand-propped it. A puff of smoke came out of the exhaust, and the engine suddenly accelerated to maximum rpm. He immediately moved from in front of the propeller. He then thought "the brakes are on, don't worry", then noticed that the airplane was moving and picking up speed. At this point, he was in front of the right wing. He then attempted to grab hold of the door, hop on wing and get into the airplane. He could not however get a grip on door as the slipstream from the propeller pushed it shut. He was then dragged and run over by the airplane. The airplane then made contact with a ditch and was substantially damaged. The pilot advised that he had been having problems with the battery holding a charge, and that he should have replaced it. He also advised that apparently one magneto was still on; he should have used chocks, and should not have attempted to hand-prop it by himself.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.