Occurrence
On 17 May 2010 at approximately 1115 UTC, a Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior II, registration G-CFMX, was being taxied by a student pilot from its parking stand to the fuel pumps at Stapleford Airfield, Essex. The student intended to refuel before an instructional sortie. During the taxi, the student misjudged the clearance between the left wingtip of G-CFMX and the nose of another parked Piper PA-28-161 Cherokee Warrior III, registration G-CBYU. The aircraft struck G-CBYU, causing G-CFMX to rotate to the left through 180 degrees and come to rest with its spinner buried in the side of the rear fuselage of the other aircraft, which was unoccupied.
Aircraft Damage
G-CFMX sustained damage to its left wing leading edge, wing tip, and shock-loading to the engine. G-CBYU sustained damage to its nose, left wing, and fuselage. Neither aircraft had passengers; the student pilot on G-CFMX was uninjured, and no crew was on board G-CBYU.
Pilot Experience
The commander of G-CFMX was a 34-year-old student pilot with a total flying experience of 7 hours, all of which were on the type. His last 90 days and last 28 days of flying experience were both 7 hours.
Aftermath
The student's instructor commented that the student had satisfactorily completed Exercise 5 of the syllabus (taxiing) and had shown good ability. However, as a result of the accident, further instruction on taxiing was given.