The pilot reported that, during the night time landing at the airport in Salt Lake City, he landed about 10 knots faster than routine. While exiting the runway, he did not follow the taxi centerline guide but instead taxied right of centerline and was momentarily distracted in the cockpit while he manipulated the radio.
After completing the right turn, he recaptured the taxiway centerline and parked the Piper PA-60.
The next morning, during his preflight inspection, he found damage to the pressurized cabin and the right-side propeller. Upon further examination, he reported that the right-side propeller struck a taxiway light. The dislodged taxiway light and propeller blade tip then struck the cabin.
The airplane sustained substantial damage to the pressurized cabin.
The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to follow the taxiway centerline guide and his distraction due to adjusting the radio, which resulted in his failure to maintain clearance from a taxiway light after landing and while taxiing to a ramp.
This November 2019 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
sometimes these lights r in perilous locations where one would not expect them this is particularly a prob in lications where turns r tight or taxiway widths have been reduced but paving left eg sef in fl has one at intersection of 14 and 1
Like our friend the other day that tied himself up with his comm cord in a C-152; it’s hard to picture how this happened without him hearing/feeling the impact of shrapnel on his fuselage (thankfully nothing came all the way through?) and/or more “off-roading” damage to his landing gear. (OTOH; according to his NTSB form; he only had 18 hours of dual his whole life, so anything is possible.)
It does highlight the dangers of changing the way you normally fly your plane in order to ‘accommodate’ another one—especially at night.
Trying to help out the King Air behind him set him up for an ambush. Exiting SLC’s Rwy 35 at Taxiway K5 requires @135-degree right turn; flying faster & angling off runway centerline to expedite his departure was with fraught with peril. If that other guy has to go around d/t insufficient runway spacing; he can take that up with ATC.
It might be that somebody else did it.
How could the pilot not have heard, or felt, that impact and the subsequent impact on the fuselage of the dislodged prop tip and runway light? The damaged propeller would most likely have caused a severe vibration, at the least. And he got to parking, secured the plane, but did not notice the damaged prop or damage to the fuselage until the next day?
He wasn’t just off centerline a little. His right main would have to be in the weeds for his prop to hit the taxi light.
Distracted indeed!
Ouch. In airplanes and cars, I don’t take my eyes off the road while in a curve.