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A Cessna 525 Citation Jet is coming in to land and a single-engine Cessna 150 is taking off at a small airport with no ATC. The Cessna 150 stays in continued radio contact and the Cessna 525 Citation Jet does not.

An accident occurs where the Cessna 150 clips the Cessna 525 Citation Jet on the tail end. The Cessna 150 crashes and burns. The people in the Cessna 150 pass away and no one is injured on Cessna 525 Citation Jet.

Is this labeled as an accident although the Cessna 525 Citation Jet did not stay in radio contact after landing when the Cessna 150 attempted to take off?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marion-indiana-airport-planes-collide-2018-04-02/

abelenky
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Lilley
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    Possible duplicate of What is the difference between aviation "accident" and "incident"? – Pondlife Apr 03 '18 at 15:37
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    Welcome to aviation.SE! – Pondlife Apr 03 '18 at 15:37
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    What does the word "accident" mean to you? I am guessing it has some legal meaning for you, perhaps an assignation of liability. In aviation, however, "accident" merely means that something seriously bad happened, without regard to blame. At least in the U.S. – Wayne Conrad Apr 03 '18 at 16:14
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    You claim that the 150 stayed in continued radio contact, but it is unclear who you think they were in radio contact with. Clearly not the jet, as you say the jet was not in contact... and again: Not in contact with who? Radio communication requires two parties. – abelenky Apr 03 '18 at 16:59
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because the question is about how the incident will be labelled and the investigation is on-going. We've discussed in Meta that accidents will not be discussed until the investigation is completed. – CGCampbell Apr 03 '18 at 17:12

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In the U.S., the definition of an accident is covered under 49 CFR Part 830.2: (emphasis is mine)

§ 830.2 Definitions.

As used in this part the following words or phrases are defined as follows:

Aircraft accident means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage. For purposes of this part, the definition of “aircraft accident” includes “unmanned aircraft accident,” as defined herein.

From your question, this appears to clearly be an "Accident."

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  • If the Cessna 525 did not stay in radio contact would the liability of the accident fall on that pilot? Or on the Cessna 150 pilot? – Lilley Apr 03 '18 at 15:50
  • How long does it take for the NTSB report to become available? – Lilley Apr 03 '18 at 15:55
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    Sometimes they're fast, sometimes they take years. I'm still waiting on a report for an incident over 2 years ago now. What is your interest in the situation? Are you a party to one of the aircrafts or individuals? – abelenky Apr 03 '18 at 15:56
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    My brother-in-law is one of the people that passed away. – Lilley Apr 03 '18 at 16:56
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    I'm terribly sorry for your loss. I'm sure you are searching for answers right now. But I'm not sure that looking for liability or responsibility is going to be helpful. These questions will be answered in time by the NTSB/FAA investigators after a detailed investigation. Regardless of legal responsibility, I'm sure that both pilots did everything they could to avoid the accident. – abelenky Apr 03 '18 at 17:01
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    Thank you Abelenky for your post. I appreciate your compassion and respect. This is a tough time for me and my family as he left behind a 6 yr old son/wife. I was searching for information (definitions, knowledge, etc) and was able to get it here. I am sorry for those that may have seemed irritated by my post/questions. When I first posted my question I was not aware that this forum was specifically for "aviation, within the scope defined by the help center". Thank you everyone for your input. I appreciate it. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/marion-indiana-airport-planes-collide-2018-04-02/ – Lilley Apr 04 '18 at 11:13
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    NTSB Preliminary report will be found here in a couple of days. https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/index.aspx Reports from events on 4/1 were posted on 4/3, so there is a little lag. Enter a range and select Submit Query down at the bottom. – CrossRoads Apr 04 '18 at 15:21