History of the Flight
On 10 May 2018, a Piper PA-31T turboprop aircraft, registration 4X-CBL, landed at Larnaca International Airport at 07:10 UTC following a private flight from Dov Airport, Israel (LLSD). The aircraft was carrying one pilot and three passengers. After vacating the runway via taxiway D, the pilot followed a “follow me” car through taxiway C to the old light aircraft apron, where a marshaller was positioned in front of stand 19. The follow me car then departed, leaving the aircraft under the marshaller’s guidance.
The marshaller signaled the pilot to the stand. The pilot initially continued straight ahead and then turned into stand 18, intending to proceed forward to stand 19, where a 90-degree turn into the stand was required before the final stop. While taxiing through stand 18, the pilot turned late to the right, causing the left wing to extend over the adjacent service road. Cars on this road are subject to a speed limit of 40 km/h. As the aircraft moved parallel to the service road toward stand 19, the pilot was looking at the marshaller, who stood at a 45-degree angle to the right. The left propeller then struck a concrete cover of a disused water meter located in stand 19, 1.6 meters from the service road. The marshaller, who had crouched to check clearance before impact, did not see the obstruction and continued signaling the pilot to proceed even after the collision, unaware of the event.
Damage
The impact completely destroyed all three blades of the left propeller. Secondary damage may have occurred to the propeller pitch change mechanism, propeller shaft, and reduction gearing. The disused water meter’s concrete cover was also destroyed.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a valid commercial pilot’s license with instrument and type ratings for the aircraft, along with a valid medical certificate, all issued by the state of Israel. The marshaller was employed by a handling company operating at Larnaca and Paphos Airports. He held a marshaller’s certificate issued on 8 March 2013 after company training and evaluation. His competency was reassessed on 7, 8, 10, and 11 January 2015 to meet the three-year revaluation requirement per the company’s training manual. However, no further reassessment was conducted until the day after the accident, exceeding the required three-year period by four months.