Minor Collision - What do I need to do?

H

How Embarassing

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Hi All, Unfortunately, after nearly 600 hours, I suffered a blemish to my perfect record. I'd taken my rental plane and visited one of my favorite $100 hamburger joints. The flight was great, the landings near perfect and the day couldn't get better. That is, until I was taxiing back to my parking spot and clipped a wing tip on the spinner of another rental aircraft. After shutting down and parking my plane, I noted minor damage to both aircraft. I immediately reported the incident to the FBO and the damage was assessed by FBO employees. Luckily for me, there is a full service repair shop on field. An employee from the shop assessed the damage to both aircraft and declared both safe for flight, but noting my wingtip may require some fiberglass work during the plane's next 100 hour. It was also estimated that any work needed would be well below the deductible of my renter's insurance policy, therefore, filing a claim would not be in my best interest. Basically, the A&P said definitely no more than $500 total to repair both planes. The FBO employee wasn't convincing when telling me due to the minor nature of the collision and the fact that it was on the ramp while parking the plane that there is no required reporting of the incident. Can someone please confirm this for me or if I am supposed to report the incident, please let me know how to go about doing that. The most damaged thing of all is my pride! I love flying and intend to keep doing so. I just want to make sure that I do the right thing, especially in the eyes of the FAA/NTSB/etc.
 
Read NTSB 830 for the definitive answer. Especially the definition section where incident and accident are described. It doesnt sound like a reportable incident to me. and live and learn...
 
File an ASRS report so that others can learn from your error.

Go read NTSB 830 - it doesn't appear to me that this is a reportable incident, but you need to make that judgement call yourself, as you are the PIC.
 
What could you have done differently to prevent this occurrence and keep it from happening again? I'm certain of a couple things but folks probably need to hear your own self-assessment.
 
KennyFlys said:
What could you have done differently to prevent this occurrence and keep it from happening again? I'm certain of a couple things but folks probably need to hear your own self-assessment.
Click to expand...

Kenny -- I'm sure he knows -- and sometimes, **** happens.
 
KennyFlys said:
What could you have done differently to prevent this occurrence and keep it from happening again? I'm certain of a couple things but folks probably need to hear your own self-assessment.
Click to expand...
don't run the f'ing plane into anything? I think that pretty much covers it, don't you? :D
 
I asked an ATP one time "What's your preflight planning look like?" as we prepare to fly into the Rockies. His answer?






"I plan not to hit anything!"


Works on the ground too, I guess! :)
 
When you go in 49 CFR Part 830, read carefully the definition of "substantial damage" in section 830.2. If it is "substantial damage," you are already late with your immediate report. If it isn't, there is nothing to report.
 
Everything has already been covered in the previous posts re: NTSB 830.

Unless your really trust the FBO, take pictures of both airplanes and damage.
Write yourself a memo of who you talked with and what they said.

Be perpared for a lot more than a $500 bill, just in case.

And Kudo's to you for reporting it. I've seen the similar things happen and no reports to the FBO desk. The next renter finds it on preflight and no one knows what happened.
 
Thanks everyone for the replies.

After this incident occurred I was frustrated (okay, I was p.o'd at myself) and I knew I could ask here and get an answer while I was dealing with the fact that accidents do happen from time to time and I'm not immune. The damage in question doesn't even come close to the definition of substantial damage in NTSB 830.2.

Just to touch on a few of the items brought up in your replies:

Kenny: The simple answer to your question is I could have been 2 inches to the right of where I was and this wouldn't have happened. Normally I would have been, but my goal was to avoid a snowbank with the right wingtip. I simply misjudged the distance.

gprellwitz: Not hitting anything is an important part of my flight planning too. Unfortunately, I guess this is just proof that sometimes things don't go exactly as planned.

BillTIZ: I've been the guy on preflight who found damage someone else hadn't reported. As much as I hated walking into the office and reporting my incident, it didn't compare to the disappointment on my niece's face after she got to the airport with her hopes up to go for her first plane ride, only to have it postponed because the plane was damaged. I'd much rather come clean and accept responsibility for what happened rather than try to get away with it, only to get caught later. At least that way, while my pride and ego may have been damaged, I don't lose respect, which is much more important to me.
 
These sorts of things do happen. One of the long time flying club members here ended up dinging the wing on the Archer when pushing it back into the hangar a few months back. This wasn't a student pilot, it was an experienced pilot who's been flying for several decades.

It happens, but I fully understand being angry at yourself, I know I would be even if it wasn't my fault.
 
How Embarassing said:
Kenny: The simple answer to your question is I could have been 2 inches to the right of where I was and this wouldn't have happened. Normally I would have been, but my goal was to avoid a snowbank with the right wingtip. I simply misjudged the distance.
Click to expand...

When it gets that tight, one can always shut off the noisemaker and walk out to each end to take a close look.

Other than that, you dun good.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
When it gets that tight, one can always shut off the noisemaker and walk out to each end to take a close look.
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Tis one of those times it's better to suffer at pulling a couple thousand pounds by hand. We have plenty of space between the rows of aircraft on our ramp but I push maintaining the yellow line. It's your best protection. If things get tighter as they sometimes do around Atlantic's open ramp, I'll ask Atlantic about moving birds around to make some space for taxiing in and out.

Now, if we could only get rid of that ancient 732 that hangs around to haul the UT boy's basketball team. It takes up a ton of space and blocks our normal taxi route. Besides, it's an eye sore. It's no wonder I saw the pilots eying our old 1956 straight-tail Skyhawks.
 
Someone kissed the left wingtip of my plane, leaving behind a significant scrape on a nearly new LoPresti wingtip light. No one has ponied up.
We're all adults, and should be fully responsible for our actions or misactions. I applaud you for standing up. Too often, things like this are ignored if the guilty presumes he's not going to be caught.
Good job.
Second the picture taking and note taking. You'd be surprised at how quickly memory fades.
 
note: even with wing walkers or pulling it instead of powered taxi you can
hit something. One pilot hit my cherokee when he tried to squeeze his
archer between two airplanes. The really stupid part was my cherokee
was on the end of the row.
 
Bob Noel said:
note: even with wing walkers or pulling it instead of powered taxi you can
hit something. One pilot hit my cherokee when he tried to squeeze his
archer between two airplanes. The really stupid part was my cherokee
was on the end of the row.
Click to expand...
When I was a renter that line guy was pulling out the 172 I was renting and the wingtip just touched the window of one of the biz jets. He left a scrap of about 10 inches in the windscreen. They were able to buff it out!! Whew!

But he was pulling by hand and still it all happened in an instant.
 
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