On July 25, 2018, at 1341 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-46 350P, C-GRFF, was substantially damaged during collision with a stop sign while taxiing onto a service road at Columbia Metropolitan Airport (CAE) West Columbia, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight rules flight plan was filed for the personal flight which was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.According to the pilot, the CAE ground controller was providing progressive taxi instructions and asked the controller if he should "turn left here at the D6" taxiway and was told "to do so." After turning, the underside of the airplane's left wing struck a "low" stop sign.

Examination of an aerial images and photos of the area where the airplane struck the stop sign revealed that the airplane was taxiing from an aircraft parking ramp area toward a perpendicular taxiway (Delta). A vehicle service road ran parallel to taxiway Delta, and both were intersected by taxiway Delta 6 (see Figure 1). A centerline was panted on the ramp area that transitioned through taxiway Delta 6 and onto taxiway Delta. There was no taxiway centerline painted on the service road. The stop sign was located in a grassy area adjacent to the service road.

Figure 1 – Annotated aerial photograph of the area where the airplane was taxiing. The pilot held a private pilot certificate with ratings for airplane single engine land and instrument airplane. His third-class medical certificate was issued September 19, 2016, and he reported 985 total hours of flight experience, 200 hours of which was in the accident airplane make and model.

At 1356, the weather recorded at CAE included scattered cloud layers at 3,900 feet and 5,000 feet, a broken ceiling at 25,000 feet and winds from 260 degrees at 7 knots. The temperature was 31°C, and the dew point was 22°C. The altimeter setting was 29.89 inches of mercury.

Examination of photographs revealed that the left wing sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical deficiencies with the airplane that would have prevented normal operation.