Cessna 750 air taxi crew reported being struck by an airport van during a reposition taxi. While attempting to avoid the van; the aircraft contacted an adjacent parked aircraft; resulting in damage to both aircraft.
Synopsis
Cessna 750 air taxi crew reported being struck by an airport van during a reposition taxi. While attempting to avoid the van; the aircraft contacted an adjacent parked aircraft; resulting in damage to both aircraft.
Narrative
On Day 0 crew arrived ZZZ airport on a live leg with 3 passengers. Upon arrival at the FBO we deplaned our passengers and were instructed to reposition the aircraft to the overflow parking area designated by the Airport Manager. This was required due to high volume of private jets overnighting for the event on Day 1. On arrival at the overflow we were marshaled into position in a long line of private jets. I expressed our concern to the ground marshallers that the aircraft was being parked too close to adjacent aircraft but were told the Airport Director required the aircraft to be parked very close to accommodate the large number of aircraft.After securing the aircraft we went into the FBO and met the owner. We expressed our concern about the close proximity of the aircraft and the FBO owner stated that he was also concerned and had advised the Airport Director previously not to use the overflow area for so many aircraft but to rather use the adjacent Runway XX that was rarely used; to park aircraft in a much more orderly manner. The FBO owner indicated that the airport director denied this request. Today; Day 1 we arrived at the FBO at XA45 for a planned XC05 departure. We requested a fuel truck and were transported via golf cart out to the overflow parking area. Preflight was normal but we noticed that our aircraft was located much farther behind (nose to tail) than other aircraft in the line. The right wing and tail of the aircraft was over the grass behind the parking ramp while other aircraft were flush with each other on a line parallel to each other with no portion of the aircraft over the grass. Possibly due to the darkness the night before when we were marshaled in. I noted that an orange cone was placed next to the wingtip of the aircraft adjacent to our aircraft on the right side and that our wingtip was more than 20 ft. behind the cone and visually was within 2 ft. of the cone laterally. Preflight and fueling were completed normally and it was noted that numerous courtesy vans were darting in and out of the overflow parking area ferrying passengers to the FBO.When preflight was complete I spoke to ground personnel about the taxi out and was advised that no marshaling was provided but that in looking at the situation a straight out taxi would clear the aircraft next to ours. In this moment I agreed. We both looked at the situation and it was not unlike other parking challenges encountered before; similar to operations at ZZZ1 for the event earlier this year. However; ZZZ1 did provide parking on a closed runway with much more space and also provided numerous marshallers. I completed the final walk around and then briefed the SIC (second in command) on the hazard of our initial taxi out. Due to the proximity of the adjacent aircraft we agreed to taxi straight out until our entire aircraft was past the adjacent aircraft before making our turn.We started engines and received our taxi clearance from Ground Control. There were no marshallers available or in sight as they were occupied providing services to other aircraft due to the high volume of ground traffic. As we began our taxi forward; a crew courtesy van appeared in front of us apparently not realizing we were taxiing; I began to apply brakes when the van swerved toward us and I turned the aircraft to the left to avoid a collision. At this moment we felt the plane hit something and lurch to the right. I immediately parked the brakes and shut down engines and informed Ground Control we were stopping in position and needed a crew from the FBO to arrive the aircraft. We completed shutdown checklist and I exited the aircraft to determine what had happened. This was when the damage to the adjacent aircraft was noted. We secured the aircraft and directed that nothing was to be moved and took photos. Our right wing contacted the adjacent aircraft (a G2) and completely severed its left winglet off the aircraft. Our aircraft did not appear to have significant damage but there was a visible crack in the paint on top of the wing aft of the leading edge slats that we had not noted before - could have been there but we don't know. Slats and wingtip did not appear to have any damage. We determined there were no injuries or other damage and secured the aircraft and called the Maintenance Facility and Maintenance to begin appropriate reporting procedures. I then contacted the owner of the FBO to ensure the aircraft was not moved and would be secured. He immediately placed orange barrels with yellow tape around the aircraft and began the process to notify the owner of the G2 that an incident had occurred. We contacted Maintenance Facility; Maintenance Control and tried to contact safety but they were not immediately available. We knew we needed to complete post incident drug and alcohol testing and asked the FBO owner about this and he arranged for a nearby medical center to conduct the testing. Enroute to the testing facility Person A called me and subsequently coordinated with the facility for our testing. This was completed thanks to all concerned who helped. After testing we returned to the FBO to complete the maintenance write up provided by maintenance control and the FBO owner provided us a courtesy car (since no rentals were available) to use as long as we need.While at the FBO; the airport director arrived and introduced himself and began asking my SIC and me about what happened. Since we knew he was the one who directed the faulty parking arrangement we told him that we could not discuss it since it was a reportable incident. He gave us his card and left. After he left the FBO owner told us that he only recently purchased the FBO and was trying to update the operation to a more professional situation. He said the airport was run like a *expletive* show" and that he and others have tried to get the airport director to make changes to enhance safety especially during the football season which can see literally hundreds of private jets arriving for games. So far to no avail.Shortly thereafter; the Airport Security Director arrived and told us that he had seen the entire incident and saw the courtesy van swerve and cut us off and he exclaimed "what the hell is he doing?" He then saw us take evasive action resulting in the collision. He stated that the courtesy van drivers to his knowledge have no training to operate on the flight line; although they may have walkie-talkies to contact Tower. He expressed his willingness to cooperate in any investigation.The SIC and I are upset seeing that in 50 years of flying neither of us has ever had an incident; but this is a definite threat situation for our operation as we operate in various venues that are ad hoc due to various event.Cause - Aircraft parked too close as required by airport director; lack of marshallers; untrained van drivers on the flight lineSuggestions - Refuse to move aircraft without marshallers even if the flight is delayed"
Second reporter narrative
We landed at ZZZ and dropped off 3 passengers. We were then instructed to park in the overflow area. We were concerned that the aircraft were parked too close to each other. We were told that there would be a huge volume of aircraft coming in for the event. We were told by FBO owner that there had been a meeting where it was suggested that the small runway be closed for parking and Airport Manager refused to do so and required that arriving aircraft be parked close together than usual. I the morning the ramp area was insane and a ramper spoke with us briefly. He said there were no marshelers so just pull straight out. In addition there were many passengers vans driving wildly trying to get passengers to the FBO's. The Captain reviewed the exterior and we were both comfortable pulling forward carefully. We were cleared to taxi by ground and slowly started moving. A crew van appeared in front of us and did a 180 very close to our nose. The Captain moved the tiller left to avoid a collision and when he did we felt and heard an impact. We immediately stopped and shut down. We assessed the damage; determined no injuries; and I began to review the manual. The Captain notified the Chief Pilot; safety; scheduling; and maintenance. FBO agreed the plane would not be moved and barrels would be placed around it. The Captain and I took drug and alcohol tests as per Company policy. Th FBO owner seemed upset and commented that the airport is being run like 'a *expletive* show '. He said he had told the airport manager that event days were unsafe but was ignored. Security Director commented that he saw the van cut us off and thought'what the hell is he doing'. He indicated that he was not aware of any training given to van drivers for driving on the ramp.Cause - Unsafe parking of aircraft. Unsafe driving on a busy ramp.Suggestions - Refuse to allow the aircraft to be poorly situated despite managers desires. Demand a marsheler.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.