NTSB Factual Report

On Friday, February 18, 1994, at 1450 eastern standard time, a Cessna 150, N7843E, owned, operated, and piloted by Darrell L. Gallant of Lima, Ohio, was involved in an accident while standing outside its hangar with the engine running. A passenger departed the airplane and walked into the airplane's engine propeller. The passenger was fatally injured. The pilot was not injured. The airplane was not damaged. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

According to the Allen County Sheriff's Supplemental Offense Report and a Federal Aviation Administration Safety Inspector, the pilot reported that he and his wife had just returned from a local personal flight. The pilot stated that he taxied the airplane to the airplane's hangar and came to a stop. He stated that his wife got out of the airplane to move their truck which was in the hangar. He stated that his wife departed the airplane and returned to the right side door of the airplane to get the key to the truck. The pilot stated that he handed his wife the truck keys and then she ducked under the right wing strut and continued forward into the propeller.

A sergeant from the Allen County Sheriff's Department wrote on the Supplemental Offense Report, "Upon looking at the location where the aircraft was parked, there [were] large puddles running along the West portion of the roadway. It appears the victim may have walked into the propeller because she was not wanting to step into the puddles."

NTSB Probable Cause

THE FAILURE OF THE PASSENGER TO MAINTAIN CLERANCE FROM THE PROPELLER.