Champion 7ECA accident near Forrest City, Arkansas, February 24, 2006

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

Personnel at the airport reported that the battery on the tailwheel equipped airplane was low. The pilot subsequently proceeded to attempt to start the engine by hand-propping. The engine started at a high power setting. The propeller struck the pilot's head and the airplane began to taxi in a right circle while unattended. The right wing tip collided with a hangar door and continued in a larger right circle, subsequently colliding with a parked agricultural airplane, causing substantial damage to the parked airplane. The flight had been schedule to confirm water content on selected agricultural fields prior to dispatching agricultural aircraft for aerial application operations. The airplane was not tied-down and no one was onboard the airplane when the hand-propping was attempted. A Federal Aviation Administration inspector at the scene of the accident confirmed substantial damage to both aircraft. Both propeller blades were found bent forward and had sections of aluminum missing along the leading edges. The left wing leading edge was significantly bent back and wrinkled when it impacted the parked aerial application airplane. The cabin area of the parked airplane sustained structural damage and the windscreen was broken-out.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.