Pilot Was Performing A Pre-Flight Inspection Of An Airplane Flown Earlier That Day

The NTSB has released a preliminary report from an accident which occurred on July 26th that fatally injured a pilot who was performing a pre-flight inspection on an C182 airplane at Cleveland Regional Jetport (KRZR) in Cleveland, TN.

According to the report, the private pilot of a Cessna 182P, N1311S, was fatally injured when he was struck by the propeller during a preflight inspection of the airplane.

The pilot's wife reported to FAA personnel that they had flown to RZR earlier that day, and her husband performed a normal shutdown of the engine utilizing the mixture control. They performed errands then returned to the airport.

She reported to law enforcement that she was outside the airplane behind the passenger door facing her seat, and her husband was performing a preflight inspection of the airplane. She heard the "propeller move" which she described as unusual and heard the engine like it was starting or trying to start. She looked up and noticed her husband fall to the ground.

She thought the propeller stopped at that time, and went inside the fixed-base-operator to summon help. She also indicated that the ignition key was in her husband's pocket at the time of the accident. The airplane's ignition switch and key were retained for operational testing.

(Source: NTSB preliminary report. Image from file. Not incident airplane)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/AccList.aspx?month=7&year=2018