N6545A

On February 20, 2000, at 1430 central standard time, a Cessna 180, N6545A, operated by a private pilot, was standing on Lake Vermilion, near Tower, Minnesota, when a passenger deplaned and walked into the airplane's rotating propeller. The deplaned passenger sustained fatal injuries. The pilot and two other passengers were uninjured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed during the 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The airplane was undamaged. The flight originated from a private airstrip near Lake Vermilion, Minnesota at 1415, landed on Lake Vermilion, and was standing at the time of the accident.

The pilot stated that he landed the airplane on Lake Vermilion and stopped the airplane. He said that his daughter's friends were approaching the airplane using their snowmobiles. He stated that she was "...excited to meet with her friends."

The pilot stated, "When the aircraft stopped I pulled out the fuel mixture as I was shutting down other equipment in the aircraft my daughter ... slipped out of the rear seat of the aircraft, when I saw her outside I screamed her name as she turned to look at me her body shifted foward and she was struck in the head once as the prop made its final revolution."