Fatal Propeller Strike at Beverly Municipal Airport (N9184Y)

Accident Overview and Witness Accounts On August 27, 2010, at approximately 1226 EDT, a flight instructor was fatally injured at Beverly Municipal Airport (BVY) in Beverly, Massachusetts, while giving instrument instruction in a Piper PA-28-161, N9184Y, operated by Beverly Flight Center Incorporated. The instructor exited the aircraft with the engine operating and made contact with the rotating propeller. The airplane sustained minor damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local instructional flight under 14 CFR Part 91. A witness in a PiperSport (N602PS) reported that the two aircraft were in the run-up area adjacent to the departure end of runway 34. The witness aircraft was experiencing canopy latching problems. The accident aircraft was holding short of the active runway behind and to the right of the witness aircraft. The witness observed the instructor open the door, exit, and either jump or stumble off the leading edge of the right wing into the moving propeller. The private pilot receiving instruction stated that the instructor appeared distracted that day. The instructor had mentioned feeling upset because a female student was leaving the following Tuesday to join the military, and the instructor had planned to go out with her after his afternoon diving lessons. The witness aircraft's flight instructor had been frustrated with the PiperSport's canopy issues, and the accident aircraft's instructor had said he was going to help them. After the instructor exited, the private pilot heard a thud, saw the instructor's sunglasses on the ground, shut down the engine, and called the tower. The private pilot had never seen the instructor jump off the front of the wing before, but company personnel later reported that the instructor had been observed doing so when securing aircraft for the night by climbing over the right wing to install a propeller lock.