N74457

On September 22, 1998, at 1530 hours Pacific daylight time, a Bellanca 14-13-2, N74457, sustained substantial damage after it collided with a parked truck in a nonmovement area of the Santa Rosa, California, airport. The airplane was operated by the owner/pilot under 14 CFR Part 91. The private pilot, the sole occupant of the aircraft, was not injured. The truck was not occupied and sustained minor damage. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the local area personal flight, and no flight plan was filed. The accident occurred as the pilot taxied to the parking area at the conclusion of the flight. The flight originated at Cloverdale, California, about 1510.

The pilot told the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Safety Inspector in a written statement that he had turned from the parallel taxiway to the ramp taxiway and didn't see any obstructions on the ramp. He stated that the ramp had "just been installed and no yellow line had been painted down the center." The ramp taxiway is bordered on the left by hangers set at a 45-degree angle to the ramp area. The pilot said his "attention was directed at the hangar edges and he did not see the truck . . . on the right side of the taxiway facing toward me."

The pilot noted that he was taxiing at "normal" speed, about 5 miles per hour, and his rightwing tip scraped the right side of the truck causing damage to the right wingtip and to the truck.

The FAA inspector interviewed the pilot on September 24 and told Safety Board investigators that the pilot agreed that he could have avoided the accident. The pilot admitted to the FAA that he did not see the truck until after impact. The FAA inspector told the Safety Board that at the point of the accident the taxiway is more than 60 feet wide, and the truck occupied less than 10 feet on the extreme right side of the taxiway.