Skip to content

ATL92LA094

1992-05-03 · WILMINGTON, North Carolina, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport ILM

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO OBTAIN PROPER ASSISTANCE DURING THE ENGINE STARTING PROCEDURE, AND HIS FAILURE TO PROPERLY ATTEND TO THE AIRPLANE WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING.

Factual narrative

THE PRIVATE PILOT WAS HAND PROPPING HIS AIRPLANE IN PREPARATION FOR A PERSONAL FLIGHT. A WITNESS REPORTED THAT THE WHEELS WERE NOT CHOCKED, AND WHEN THE ENGINE STARTED, THE THROTTLE WAS IN A MIDRANGE POSITION. THE AIRPLANE BEGAN TO ROLL, AND THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO REACH THE CONTROLS. THE UNATTENDED AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TWO FUEL TRUCKS BEFORE COMING TO A STOP. WHILE ATTEMPTING TO STOP THE RUNAWAY AIRPLANE, THE PILOT WAS STRUCK BY THE AIRCRAFT TAIL. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_ATL92LA094.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

Search this event elsewhere

External sources are reported, not agency: signal that something happened, not fact about what happened.

Related research

Matched on aircraft type. All research papers