What happened
On 16 February 2012, at approximately 17:55 UTC, a Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II, registration G-BOER, was participating in a night flyout event at Coventry Airport. While taxiing for takeoff, the aircraft collided with a stationary PA-28 parked on a taxiway.
The aircraft was maneuvering past several parked planes, including one on a grass area to the left and two others near a small hangar apron to the right. To maintain clearance from an aircraft positioned further forward on the left, the pilot steered toward the right side of the taxiway. During this maneuver, the right wing of G-BOER struck the left wingtip of the parked PA-28, which was protruding approximately 2 feet into the taxiway. There were no injuries to the pilot or the two passengers on board, though the collision resulted in a dent to the wing leading edge and light damage to the wing and aileron of the parked aircraft.
The investigation
The investigation was based on the aircraft accident report submitted by the pilot. The inquiry examined the positioning of the aircraft on the taxiway and the pilot's focus during the maneuver. It was established that the pilot was primarily concentrating on maintaining distance from the aircraft parked on the left side of the taxiway. Consequently, the wing of the parked PA-28 on the right was not identified before the impact occurred.