Narrative:
A Twin Otter skydiving plane (N166DH) struck a Panzl S-330 aerobatics plane (N540ML) at Cedartown-Polk County Airport, Georgia, USA.
The pilot in the Panzl S-330 airplane reported that he was landing and had turned on the airport runway pilot-controlled lighting about 5 miles before arriving at the airport and transmitted a 2-mile final radio call over the airport's CTAF. He landed the airplane and made "S" turns on runway 28 because it is not possible to see the opposite threshold when looking forward in the taildragger aircraft. When the pilot began a right turn to exit the runway at the midfield taxiway, a DHC-6 Twin Otter airplane that had initiated a takeoff roll from the opposite end of the runway impacted his airplane. The airport's runway does not have a parallel taxiway, and it is standard practice to back taxi to the departure end. The pilot in the Twin Otter reported that he transmitted his intentions to taxi to the midfield intersection and to depart from runway 10. He did not activate the pilot-controlled runway lighting but recalled that he had noticed that the pilot-controlled lighting had been turned on, and he taxied to the hold short line and did not see any airplanes. He back taxied to the approach end of runway 10 and maneuvered his airplane to take off. During the takeoff roll, the airplane's left wing struck the Panzl S-330. Neither pilot recalled hearing radio transmissions on the CTAF. The Twin Otter sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar.
Probable cause: "The departing pilot's failure to see and avoid the arriving airplane as it was turning off the runway from which the departing pilot was taking off."
Runway mishap
| Status: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
| Date: | Friday 11 October 2019 |
| Time: | 19:00 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 100 |
| Operator: | Skydive Georgia |
| Registration: | N166DH |
| MSN: | 66 |
| First flight: | 1967 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 10 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 11 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Cedartown-Polk County Airport, GA ( United States of America)
|
| Phase: | Landing (LDG) |
| Nature: | Parachuting |
| Departure airport: | Cedartown-Polk County Airport, GA, United States of America |
| Cedartown-Polk County Airport, GA, United States of America |
A Twin Otter skydiving plane (N166DH) struck a Panzl S-330 aerobatics plane (N540ML) at Cedartown-Polk County Airport, Georgia, USA.
The pilot in the Panzl S-330 airplane reported that he was landing and had turned on the airport runway pilot-controlled lighting about 5 miles before arriving at the airport and transmitted a 2-mile final radio call over the airport's CTAF. He landed the airplane and made "S" turns on runway 28 because it is not possible to see the opposite threshold when looking forward in the taildragger aircraft. When the pilot began a right turn to exit the runway at the midfield taxiway, a DHC-6 Twin Otter airplane that had initiated a takeoff roll from the opposite end of the runway impacted his airplane. The airport's runway does not have a parallel taxiway, and it is standard practice to back taxi to the departure end. The pilot in the Twin Otter reported that he transmitted his intentions to taxi to the midfield intersection and to depart from runway 10. He did not activate the pilot-controlled runway lighting but recalled that he had noticed that the pilot-controlled lighting had been turned on, and he taxied to the hold short line and did not see any airplanes. He back taxied to the approach end of runway 10 and maneuvered his airplane to take off. During the takeoff roll, the airplane's left wing struck the Panzl S-330. Neither pilot recalled hearing radio transmissions on the CTAF. The Twin Otter sustained substantial damage to the left wing spar.
Probable Cause:
Probable cause: "The departing pilot's failure to see and avoid the arriving airplane as it was turning off the runway from which the departing pilot was taking off."
Accident investigation:
 |
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Classification:
Runway incursionRunway mishap
Sources:
» FAAPhotos
Map
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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