Incident Overview
Following an uneventful solo flight, a student pilot began to follow a parking vehicle to a designated parking spot. The parking spot selected by the driver required the aircraft to execute a 180-degree turn shortly before stopping. During this turn, the right wing of the aircraft struck a construction fence post adjacent to the parking spot.
Pilot and Ground Crew Actions
The pilot stated that he was exactly centered on the yellow taxiway stripe during the maneuver. The lineman guiding the aircraft made no indication that the wingtip was getting close to the fence. Another lineman, not involved in the incident, stated after the accident that he had been wondering when something like this would happen because there was insufficient clearance from the fence to the taxiway strip for an aircraft to pass.
Post-Accident Measurements
Measurements taken after the accident revealed that if the nosewheel had tracked exactly on the yellow centerline, the right wingtip would have cleared the fence post by 6 inches.