SEA06CA098
2006-04-30 · Billings, Montana, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed
Airport BIL
Current FAA registration · N739AJ
- Make / Model
- CESSNA 172N
- Year of manufacture
- 1978 · 28 years old at event
- Engine
- LYCOMING 0-320 SERIES (180 hp)
- Seats / Engines
- 4 seats · 1 engine
- Last airworthiness date
- 19780216
- ADS-B equipped
- Yes — Mode-S A9EC83
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The pilot's failure to maintain clearance from a sign while taxiing to parking.
Factual narrative
On April 30, 2006, about 1600 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 172N, N739AJ, collided with a sign while taxiing to parking at the Billings Logan International Airport, Billings, Montana. The airplane, which was registered to and operated by the pilot, sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and his passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed for the 14 CFR Part 91 personal cross country flight. The flight originated in Lewiston, Idaho, about 1310, and the intended destination was Billings. According to the pilot, as he was looking to his right to taxi into a parking place on the ramp, the airplane's left wing struck a sign pole. His passenger tried to warn him about the sign, and he applied the brakes, but was unable to stop before contacting the sign. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the left wing sustained structural damage. According to the pilot, as he was looking to his right to taxi into a parking place on the ramp, the airplane's left wing struck a sign pole. His passenger tried to warn him about the sign, and he applied the brakes, but was unable to stop before contacting the sign. An FAA inspector examined the airplane and reported that the left wing sustained structural damage. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2006_SEA06CA098.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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