Cessna 182 N3473U

Summary

On 30 December 2019 at about 00:20 local time, a Cessna 182 registered N3473U was involved in an accident near Robstown, Texas, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 December 2019 at 00:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Robstown, Texas, United States

Nearest airport

Nueces County Airport (RBO)

Coordinates

27.7786, -97.6908

Aircraft

Cessna 182

Registration

N3473U

Category

Airplane

Year built

1963

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Harlingen → Marion

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Dusk

NTSB number

CEN20CA047

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to set the friction lock on the throttle before hand propping the engine, which allowed the airplane to move forward and impact a credit card machine. Contributing to the accident was the malfunction of the parking brake for reasons that could not be determined.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he parked the airplane in front of the fuel pump and refueled both wing tanks before pushing the airplane back. The pilot reported that, while checking to see if the battery would charge before continuing the flight, the propeller turned slowly, and the engine did not start, so he chose to hand prop the airplane. He set the throttle, mixture, and parking brake, and after several attempts, the engine started. The engine appeared to be at idle, but then the rpms increased. The airplane moved forward and impacted the fuel station's credit card machine before he could enter and stop the airplane. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the airframe's bottom firewall area. Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed that the throttle's friction lock was working. A check of the parking brake revealed that, even after the parking brake was applied, the airplane moved, and the brake did not function as intended. The reason for the parking brake malfunction was not determined. The accident is consistent with the pilot not setting the friction lock on the throttle and not verifying if the airplane would move when the parking brake was set.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.