N996LMBeech 200 · 1976

On October 18, 2021, about 1616 eastern daylight time, a Beech 200, N996LM, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. The two pilots and six passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 on-demand air taxi flight.

The flight, which was operated by Austin Aviation, was taxiing for departure at Mount Pleasant Regional Airport – Faison Field (LRO), Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, destined for Columbia Metro Airport (CAE), Columbia South Carolina, when the accident occurred.

According to the pilot, there was a fuel truck that was parked to his right on the ramp apron, less than 20 ft from the center line taxiway marking. He assessed that he had enough room to depart the parking area. No safety markings or cones were around the fuel truck, and no marshaling assistance or warnings were provided by the fixed base operator. After he had started moving, he noticed a small single-engine airplane to his immediate left, pulling into the parking spot adjacent to his airplane.

As the pilot was making a left turn, the single-engine airplane kept inching forward. He instinctively hesitated as he was making a sharp left-hand turn and “shallowed out” his direction to avoid contact with the running engine about 6 feet off his left wingtip, as it was apparent to him that the airplane was not going to stop and allow him to have more movement area.

The pilot also added that this short hesitation, and probably 6 feet of movement, resulted in the right-wing tip of his airplane contacting the fuel truck, which was parked on the other side of the ramp to his right. His first thought was that he had run over something on the taxiway itself.

As he leaned forward and looked towards the right wing, he could see a small amount of damage to the end of the wingtip and realized that the wingtip had contacted the fuel truck. He immediately stopped his taxi. He then taxied the airplane back around the corner into the original parking spot that he had taxied out of, shut down the engines and deplaned the passengers. He then evaluated that all passengers were safe, and that no injuries had occurred.

The pilot reported the airplane wingtip had contacted a ladder handle on the fuel truck, and that the outboard 2-ft section of the wingtip had sheared off at the rivet line. The pilot also advised that the third outboard aileron anchor point was also attached to the wingtip assembly, and that as a result of the wing tip shearing off, the last attach point of the aileron was sheared, the aileron was damaged, and although the aileron was still attached to the airplane, it was loose from the third anchor point, but was still attached to the airplane by the other two hinge points.

According to the pilot’s Pilot /Operator Aircraft Accident/Incident Report (NTSB Form 6120), he was the only crewmember, and he had a total of 4 passengers onboard. Review of the load manifest for the flight showed that there were 7 passengers and 1 additional crew member. Review of security camera video also indicated that 8 occupants boarded the airplane. Information provided by a Line Service Technician, indicated that one of the occupants (not the pilot-in-command) was wearing a pilot’s uniform, and had just started working for the operator.

According to the occupants of the single-engine airplane, they were taxiing and stopped about 30 yards short of the Beech (the accident airplane). Several passengers were observed entering the Beech. The Beech was parked in the vicinity of the parking space that they intended to park in. As the Beech passenger door closed, they continued their taxi and parked directly on the intended yellow parking “T,” with the main wheel directly on the line of the “T.” As they finalized the shutdown procedure, they observed the Beech taxiing very quickly away from its parking space. They also described that the left wing of the Beech came within about 3 feet of the stationary propeller of their airplane.

Both occupants of the single-engine airplane remarked that the airplane was taxiing “very fast.” They continued to observe the Beech as it taxied. After it passed their airplane, they observed that the right wing of the Beech was significantly damaged. A 2-ft section of the wing was also observed on the ground next to a fuel truck. They immediately powered up their airplane to attempt radio communications with the Beech to warn them not to take off because a portion of the right wing was on the ground and the remaining wing was significantly damaged. As they were continuing to power up the airplane, they observed the Beech continue to taxi and return to its original parking space. The passengers soon disembarked.

Review of security camera videos indicated that the accident pilot had parked the Beech between two designated parking spaces, with its left wing over one designated parking space, its right wing over another designated parking space, and its tail in the parking space behind it. The single-engine airplane remained clear of the Beech during the boarding process, then parked before the left engine was started on the Beech. The single-engine airplane was parked for about 1 minute 19 seconds before the Beech began to taxi. Further review of security camera video also indicated that the single-engine airplane’s engine had been shut down for about 12 seconds when the Beech made the left turn and its left wing passed in front of it. Review of a postaccident photograph provided by the pilot of the Beech also indicated that the single-engine airplane was parked normally in the parking spot.

Calculations done by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector indicated that the airplane traveled about 111.7 feet during the taxi out before striking the fuel truck with the right wing. The maximum calculated speed observed during the taxi was 18.6 feet per second, or about 12.7 mph.

Examination of photographs provided by the FAA indicated that the fuel truck was parked on the edge of the ramp on a concrete access pad for a hangar. Further examination also revealed that there was a van and another vehicle also parked about 183 feet farther down the ramp, near its edge.

On December 11, 2020, the South Carolina Aeronautics Commission inspected the apron and identified 4 inspection issues. Three had to do with obscured/dirty/faded markings on the taxi lanes, and one had to do with the fuel truck being within 50 ft of a building or structure. No mention was made of any other inspection issues with the apron. According to a Line Service Technician, when airplanes typically arrived at LRO, before they entered the ramp area, the FBO would radio the arriving airplane to ask the pilot of their intentions. If the arriving airplane was a jet or a jet prop (such as the Beech) and was arriving to pick up or drop off passengers and it was a short visit, they would instruct the pilot to park on the middle taxiway line (which was between the two rows for small general aviation airplanes that were oriented in a north-south direction). However, if the airplane (jet, or jet prop) was staying longer, for an hour or overnight to several days, they would direct the pilot to the north end of the ramp (where the row oriented in an east-west direction for larger airplanes was) and would chock the airplane accordingly. This was standard for each arriving airplane of that size.

They would discourage the pilots of all larger airplanes from parking in front of the FBO terminal due to safety concerns for owners and passengers walking to parked airplanes on the ramp, and vehicle traffic entering and exiting the ramp area through the security gate near the FBO terminal.

The Line Service Technician went on to say that the pilot involved in the accident had been to LRO many times, picking up and dropping off passengers for over a year. They had spoken to him over the radio and in person about the ramp congestion and the reasons they insisted he park his airplane on the middle taxiway line. In the 2 to 3 months before the accident, he had pulled through the tiedown spots they reserved for smaller airplanes, taking up two tiedown spots to get around parking in the middle. The ramp congestion, with airplane, vehicle, and foot traffic, was not unusual for LRO and the accident pilot had experienced it many times.

Following the accident, to increase safety, the Charleston County Airport Authority took several actions including adding information to the Electronic Chart Supplements and the Airport Facility Directory entries for the airport noted restrictions to parking and taxiing for airplanes with wingspans greater than 38 feet, as well as enhancements to the taxiway and apron pavement and markings.