A PA28 PVT PLT TAXIES INTO A TXWY LIGHT WHEN LEAVING HIS PARKING AREA AT BID; RI.
Synopsis
A PA28 PVT PLT TAXIES INTO A TXWY LIGHT WHEN LEAVING HIS PARKING AREA AT BID; RI.
Narrative
UPON ARRIVING AT BID AND TAXIING THE AIRPLANE OFF THE RWY; I WAS INSTRUCTED BY THE UNICOM OPERATOR TO PARK THE AIRPLANE IN A GRASSY AREA ADJACENT TO; AND N OF THE TXWY. I COMPLIED BY TAXIING ONTO THE GRASSY AREA AND PARKING THE AIRPLANE PERPENDICULAR TO THE TXWY AND FACING S (IE; FACING THE TXWY AND RWY BEYOND). AFTER SPENDING APPROX 2 HRS ON BLOCK ISLAND; I RETURNED TO THE ARPT TO RETURN TO EAST HAMPTON (HTO); MY POINT OF ORIGIN. AFTER PREFLTING THE AIRPLANE; I STARTED THE ENG AND BEGAN TAXIING TOWARD THE TXWY WHICH WAS APPROX 15 FT DIRECTLY AHEAD OF ME. PRIOR TO ENTERING THE TXWY; THE PROP STRUCK THE TOP OF A TXWY LIGHT BREAKING THE LIGHT BULB AND BLUE GLASS ENCLOSURE. THE TXWY LIGHT WAS DIRECTLY IN FRONT ON THE AIRPLANE AND NOT VISIBLE FROM MY VANTAGE POINT IN THE COCKPIT. (PRIOR TO TAXIING; I OBSERVED TAXI LIGHTS ON EITHER SIDE OF THE AIRPLANE AND ASSUMED THAT THE AREA IN FRONT OF ME WAS CLR.) UPON HEARING THE SOUND OF THE PROP STRIKING THE LIGHT; I IMMEDIATELY SHUT DOWN THE ENG AND EXITED THE AIRPLANE TO INVESTIGATE. THE STRIKE RESULTED IN DAMAGE TO THE TXWY LIGHT AND SEVERAL SMALL NICKS IN THE PROP. IN RETROSPECT; I BELIEVE THAT SEVERAL FACTORS CONTRIBUTED TO THIS OCCURRENCE. UPON RETURNING TO THE ARPT; THERE WERE AIRPLANES PARKED ON EITHER SIDE OF MINE. DURING PREFLT I SHOULD HAVE MADE NOTE OF ANY OBSTRUCTIONS AHEAD OF ME SINCE I WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO TURN THE AIRPLANE TO THE SIDE (TO SEE THE AREA DIRECTLY IN FRONT OF ME) WHILE TAXIING DUE TO THE PROX OF THE ADJACENT PLANES. I FAILED TO DO THIS. ALSO; I WRONGLY ASSUMED THAT THE AREA DIRECTLY AHEAD OF ME WAS CLR SINCE I SAW TXWY LIGHTS ON EITHER SIDE OF ME BEFORE I STARTED MOVING. I SHOULD HAVE ASSUMED THAT THERE MIGHT BE AN ADDITIONAL LIGHT DIRECTLY AHEAD OF ME. THE UNICOM OPERATOR AFTER INSTRUCTING ME TO POS MY AIRPLANE DIRECTLY FACING A ROW OF TAXI LIGHTS SHOULD HAVE CAUTIONED ME ABOUT THE DANGER OF STRIKING THE LIGHTS UPON LEAVING THE AREA. ALSO; IF AIRPLANES ARE TO BE PARKED IN SUCH A MANNER (WHICH I UNDERSTAND IS COMMONPLACE AT BID); THE FBO SHOULD HAVE PERSONNEL DIRECTING THE TFC ON THE GND AWAY FROM OBSTRUCTIONS DIRECTLY IN THE PATH OF AIRPLANES TAXIING ONTO THE TXWY. AFTER THE OCCURRENCE; THE PERSON OPERATING THE UNICOM COMMENTED TO ME THAT HE SHOULD WARN PLTS ABOUT THE TXWY LIGHTS AND TOLD ME THAT THEY HAD BEEN STRUCK SEVERAL TIMES IN THE PAST. I AM A RELATIVELY NEW PVT PLT. I PASSED MY CHK RIDE ON JUL/XA/98. I HAVE ACCUMULATED APPROX 90 HRS TOTAL TIME TO DATE. I HAVE NEVER SUBMITTED A NASA FORM BEFORE AND I'M NOT SURE IF THIS IS THE RIGHT FORM (IT APPEARS THAT IT MAY BE INTENDED FOR USE BY ATC PERSONNEL).
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.