What happened
On 15 July 1998, a DH82A Tiger Moth, registration G-ANFI, was involved in a ground collision at Cardiff Airport. The aircraft was being operated on a private flight. While beginning the taxiing phase of the flight, the pilot failed to observe an aircraft that had been parked in the path of the moving Tiger Moth during the pre-flight inspection process.
Although the pilot had performed a visual check of the area to the right of the aircraft, the stationary aircraft remained undetected to the left. Consequently, the pilot was unable to halt the DH82A Tiger Moth in time to avoid contact, resulting in a collision with the left wing of the other aircraft. The incident resulted in substantial damage to the propeller of the Tiger Moth, but there were no injuries to the pilot.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot. The examination focused on the pilot's sequence of visual checks and the movement of the aircraft during the initial taxi.
Findings
- The pilot failed to perform an adequate visual clearance of the area directly ahead of the aircraft before commencing taxiing.
- The pilot's attention was focused on the right side of the aircraft, leaving the left side unmonitored.
- Failure to visually clear the area ahead led to the collision with the parked aircraft.