NTSB Factual Report

On August 5, 2014, at 1015 central daylight time, a Taylorcraft BC12-D, N44335, impacted a parked airplane after engine start at Burnet Municipal Airport-Kate Craddock Field (BMQ), Burnet, Texas. The airplane engine was being hand-propped by a flight instructor with the student pilot at the cockpit controls. Upon engine start, N44335 veered into a parked Piper Comanche, N7672Y, and both airplanes received substantial damage. The flight instructor and student pilot were uninjured. The airplane was registered to and operated by the flight instructor under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulation Part 91 as in instructional flight that was not operating on a flight plan. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The local flight was originating at the time of the accident.

On August 5, 2014, the registered owner of the N7672Y called the Federal Aviation Admiration to report that his airplane had been struck by N44335. The accident had not been reported by the flight instructor.

The required National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Pilot/Operator Accident/Incident Report, Form 6120.1), was not received following the accident, but on August 26, 2014, the flight instructor sent an email to NTSB's eyewitness report contact email stating the following after the release of the NTSB Preliminary Report of the accident:

"There was at least a minute to two minutes between engine start and the actual taxi incident. I was the instructor hand-propping the aircraft and had time to strap into my seatbelt, un-chock the aircraft, climb in, check over the controls, do a radio check, and briefly discuss the taxi with the student before we moved. The report makes it sound like the hand-propping had more to do with the accident than it did."

On September 3, 2014, the NTSB ICC sent an email to the flight instructor stating that he is to complete and return via email Form 6120.1 within 10 days. Form 6120.1 was not received after the 10 days.

The student pilot stated that he learned of the flight instructor through the flight instructor's internet advertisement for flight instruction. The student pilot stated the he was pursuing a sport pilot certificate and the purpose of the accident flight with the flight instructor was to practice takeoff and landings on a grass runway at Llano, Texas. The student pilot had accumulated a total flight time of 5.7 hours prior to the accident flight which was the student pilot's sixth flight lesson in N44335. The accident flight was the first time in which the student pilot was seated in the left pilot seat, which was the only pilot seat equipped with operable brakes. The student pilot stated that N44335 was parked on a grass surface and next to N7672Y during engine start. Upon engine start, the flight instructor removed the wheel chock and got into the right pilot seat. The student pilot then applied engine throttle for taxi, and when the airplane began to move, it veered left, towards N7672Y. The flight instructor told him to apply right brake and to retard the engine throttle. The student pilot stated that he failed to get his right foot from the rudder to the brake in a "timely manner" and in his "confusion" did not retard the engine throttle. The student pilot stated that during the attempted recovery, it was still hard for him to understand/coordinate the use of the throttle control and control wheel, thinking that the control wheel acted like a car steering wheel in turning the airplane. The flight instructor turned the magneto switch off before the left wing of the airplane stuck the windshield and left wing of N7672Y.

N7672Y sustained substantial damage that included damage to the left wing.

NTSB Probable Cause

The flight instructor’s failure to adequately supervise the student pilot and his decision to conduct training in an airplane without dual brakes, which resulted in the student pilot’s loss of directional control during initial taxi and subsequent impact with another airplane.