Primary finding
Probable cause
Aircraft 1 The pilot not setting the parking brake adequately while holding for departure. Contributing to the accident was the pilot being distracted while doing his paperwork. --- Aircraft 2 The pilot of the other airplane not setting the parking brake adequately while holding for departure. Contributing to the accident was the pilot of the other airplane being distracted while doing his paperwork.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
Aircraft 1 While holding for takeoff on a taxiway, the pilot set the airplane's parking brake and performed paperwork duties. The airplane sustained minor damage when it rolled forward and its propellers contacted another airplane empennage causing substantial damage to the empennage. An examination of the parking brake revealed no anomalies. --- Aircraft 2 While holding for takeoff on a taxiway, the pilot of the other airplane set his airplane's parking brake and performed paperwork duties. The other airplane sustained minor damage when it rolled forward and its propellers contacted the airplane's empennage causing substantial damage to the empennage. An examination of the other airplane's parking brake revealed no anomalies.
Source record
Factual narrative
On February 24, 2010, about 0729 central standard time, a Hawker Beechcraft Corp. 65-B80, N132BA, sustained minor damage when it impacted a Hawker Beechcraft Corp. 65-A80, N95LL, on taxiway Papa at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International/Wold-Chamberlain Airport, near Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Hawker Beechcraft 65-A80 sustained substantial damage. Both airplanes were piloted by commercial pilots and both pilots were uninjured. The flights were conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135, in visual meteorological conditions, and both had instrument flight rules flight plans on file. The flights were originating at the time of the accident. The Hawker Beechcraft 65-B80 was destined for the Rice Lake Regional Airport - Carl's Field, near Rice Lake, Wisconsin, and the Hawker Beechcraft 65-A80 was destined for the Grand Rapids/Itasca County Airport-Gordon Newstrom Field, near Grand Rapids, Minnesota. The pilot of the Beechcraft Corp. 65-B80 reported that "While holding on taxiway PAPA, just short of PAPA 2, for departure on runway 30 right, I set the parking brake (obviously not set hard enough) to do some paperwork. With my head down writing, I rolled forward and made contact with the rear of the aircraft ahead of me." Federal Aviation Administration inspectors examined the parking brake system and found no anomalies.