DEHAVILLAND DHC 6 200 — Middletown, OH, 2014

DEHAVILLAND DHC 6 200 — Middletown, OH

High-time pilot

Date	June 1, 2014
Location	Middletown, OH
Aircraft	DEHAVILLAND DHC 6 200
Purpose of flight	Skydiving
Conditions	Day · Visual Meteorological Cond
Phase / occurrence	Standing-engine(s) operating AC/prop/rotor contact w person
Pilot age	25
Pilot total time	2,800 hrs · Experienced
Time in type	1,075 hrs
Fatalities	0

Probable cause

The skydiving operator employee’s failure to see and avoid the rotating propeller blades when she walked toward the cockpit while the airplane’s engines were running.

NTSB findings

Personnel issues-Psychological-Attention/monitoring-Attention-Airport personnel - C

What happened

The skydiving airplane was on a ramp with its engines operating while the pilot waited for passengers to board. The pilot asked an employee of the skydiving operator if he could order something to eat for lunch. The employee responded that she had time to come see the pilot at the airplane because she was expecting a small delay before the next flight. The pilot thought the delay was not long enough to justify shutting down the engines. The pilot observed the employee exit the manifest office and run toward the airplane. The skydiving operator typically flew single-engine airplanes with the propeller located in front of the cockpit; however, the accident airplane was a twin-engine airplane with its propellers located under each wing. The operator's employee subsequently walked into the operating propeller under the airplane's left wing, sustaining fatal injuries.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.