Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to obtain proper assistance to secure the airplane.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot stated that the airplane, which was manufactured in 1946, did not have an electrical starting system, so he attempted to start the engine by hand propping it. The pilot reported that a local gentleman held the tail of the airplane to secure it during the engine start-up. When he rotated the propeller by hand to start the engine, the engine idled for a few seconds, '...then roared up.' The airplane began to accelerate forward and impacted a cement pillar and a fuel pump. The pilot and the gentleman holding the tail were unable to control the airplane.
Source record
Factual narrative
On February 17, 1996, at about 1520 eastern standard time, an Aeronca 11AC, CFLBW, registered to a private owner, was substantially damaged when the private pilot attempted to start the airplane by rotating the propeller by hand (hand propping.) The unoccupied airplane accelerated and collided with a fuel pump at Cynthiana Harrison County Airport, Cynthiana, Kentucky. There were no injuries to the private pilot, or to personnel on the ground. The flight was to be conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. The airplane had recently been sold and was being ferried from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, to Louisa County/Freeman Field in Virginia. The pilot stated that he landed at Cynthiana, Kentucky to refuel the airplane for the next leg of the ferry flight. He stated that since the airplane, which was manufactured in 1946, had no electrical starting system, hand propping was the method used to start the engine. The pilot reported that, "...with a local gentleman holding the tail on the left hand side, I primed it, pulled through (turning the [propeller] with [magnetos] off to suck fuel into the cylinders) then started it. It idled for a few seconds, then roared up." The private pilot wrote that the airplane began to accelerate forward and he tried to grab the strut to help control the airplane. The pilot and the gentleman at the tail of the airplane were unable to stop the airplane. The airplane's right wing hit a cement pole adjacent to the fuel pump. The airplane turned and collided with the fuel pump; the top half of the fuel pump was damaged. There was no claim of preimpact mechanical malfunction. -