What happened
On 18 November 2018, a Cessna 152, registration G-CLAP, was involved in a ground collision at North Weald Airfield, Essex. Following a flight from Elstree, the pilot was taxiing along Taxiway A in search of a parking location. Based on instructions from North Weald Radio to park near other Cessna aircraft, the pilot proceeded along a stretch of taxiway where several aircraft appeared to be parking.
As the aircraft approached a parked RV-9, registration G-PLAR, the pilot observed two individuals positioned in front of the stationary aircraft. The pilot was uncertain if G-PLAR was fully secured in its parking slot and did not realize the proximity of the Cessna 152's right wing to the RV-9's tail. During the maneuver, the pilot observed a person signaling; however, the pilot misinterpreted this gesture as an instruction to continue forward. Although the individual quickly changed their signal to indicate a requirement to stop, the collision had already occurred, resulting in minor damage to the wing tip of G-CLAP and damage to the rudder of G-PLAR.
The investigation
The investigation was based on an aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot. Investigators examined the sequence of events on the taxiway and the communications provided by North Weald Radio. The inquiry also considered the pilot's perception of the ground personnel's signals and the spatial awareness maintained during the taxiing phase.
Findings
- The collision was caused by the pilot misinterpreting a hand signal from a ground person as an instruction to proceed rather than to stop.
- The pilot failed to maintain adequate clearance between the moving aircraft and the parked G-PLAR.
- The pilot did not utilize the available space on the taxiway to provide a wider berth to the parked aircraft, despite the fact that aircraft were only parked on one side of the path.