Damn It! I Broke an Airplane … Now What?

It was a nightmare. You’d wrestled the airplane down final in the gusting crosswind and touched down successfully. You’d made it, you got it on the ground. You breathed a sigh of relief. A few seconds later the upwind wing lifted, and the airplane started weathervaning into the wind. Before you could react, the airplane started sliding sideways, the other wing hit the ground, and the nosewheel collapsed as the airplane made a large divot in the grass beside the runway and came to a stop. 

You and your passengers were wearing the restraints, so nobody seemed to have been slammed against anything hard in the cabin. You’d briefed the passengers prior to the flight, so the one in the right seat already had that door open and started to get out. You opened the door on your side, undid the seatbelt and shoulder harness, and exited. Moments later the other passenger got out, and the three of you got away from the airplane as you didn’t know if there’s been a fuel spill and potentially a fire. As you wait for your heart rate to drop back into double digits, you wonder what to do next.

Focus

Not surprisingly, you’re mortified. You’ve never put a scratch on an airplane before. You’re a good pilot, yet somehow, you’ve torn up an airplane. The airplane has come to a stop, but you’re still pilot in command, so it’s time for you to focus and deal with the reality of the situation despite the fact that adrenaline is still coursing through your body. 

Take a deep breath. There are a series of steps to take following any aircraft accident or incident in which you were the PIC, and the first is looking after medical help for you and your passengers. If you’re in a remote area, you’ll need to do any needed first aid and get search and rescue personnel on the way to you. If you’ve got a personal locator beacon or one of the subscription locator services, activate it. If you can get back into the airplane safely and it has a panel-mounted ELT, turn it on. 

If you are where you can get cellphone service, make a 911 call and get help on its way to you. If you are on an airport, there’s a good chance someone saw your cloud of dust, is heading toward you, and has called emergency services. Because traumatic brain injuries and internal bleeding are not immediately obvious, encourage people who are experiencing discomfort to stay where they are—to the extent possible—until first responders arrive and can assess their conditions. While wilderness survival is beyond the scope of this article, there is always the possibility that you will have put the airplane down far from civilization. We recommend spending some quality time with Doug Ritter’s resourceful website on survival equipment and techniques for pilots, Equipped To Survive.  

Secure the Aircraft

Once you have an incident and the aircraft has come to a stop, the FARs become less important than the NTSB Regulations in 49 CFR Part 830 et seq. We’re going to get to whether you have to report the event to the NTSB (and the report is to the NTSB, not the FAA) in a minute, because at this stage you don’t know if you have a reportable accident. (The NTSB is the only agency for which notification is required.) Right now, you’ve got other, more important things that need to be sorted out. 

Your second priority is to secure the aircraft. If, once you have had time to survey the damage to the aircraft and conclude that the accident is reportable, you can only move the aircraft for three reasons: 1) if necessary to remove persons injured or trapped; 2) to protect the wreckage from further damage; or 3) to protect the public from injury. 

For now, don’t move the aircraft until you’ve consulted with your insurance company and an aviation attorney. If you are on an airport and causing interference with operations, such as closing a runway, you can be sure that the airport manager is going to be involved and will probably have called the FAA, and you’re going to be under pressure to move the aircraft. It’s possible that the airport manager will call the FAA and get permission to move the aircraft. If so, that’s a decision that is out of your hands, at least temporarily. If it is to be moved, it’s best to get moved to an individual hangar that can be locked to protect it from folks who might want parts and avionics.

Call Your Insurance Broker—And Aviation Attorney

If you are insured with Avemco—a direct writer of insurance—call Avemco directly to report the incident. With any other insurance company, call your broker (the broker who you contacted to get insurance and who got quotes from companies—you chose which quote you wanted). Your broker will get things moving on the claims side and will give you advice about what to do with the aircraft. At some point a claims person from the insurance company will call you and walk you through the process of continuing to make sure the aircraft is secure and making the needed claim for repair or replacement.

If you don’t have one, another source is AOPA’s Legal Services (AOPA offers the optional Pilot Protection Plan—PPS—with a membership). They will give you the names of aviation attorneys in your area. If you are a PPS member, some of the legal services you need are covered under the PPS. From your aviation attorney and insurance company you’ll get a strategy for dealing with the event both immediately and downstream. 

Determine if the damage to the aircraft makes the event a reportable accident, as NTSB Reg 830.5 identifies which events require “immediate” reporting—the actual phrase is “by the most expeditious means available.” Pull it up and see if your event falls into the immediate notification requirement. If it does, make a phone call to the nearest NTSB regional office and report the accident. 

NTSB Reg 830.5(a) requires immediate notification of an aircraft accident. To determine what constitutes an accident, you have to go to 830.2, Definitions. Generally, an accident requires serious injury or “substantial damage” to the aircraft. Both of those terms are then defined. The NTSB does not want to be bothered with every fender bender event, so the bar for substantial damage is set pretty high. For example, when you look through it, the damage from an unintentional gear-up landing is almost never “substantial” under the definitions—so it does not have to be reported. If the event does meet the criteria for immediate notification, then you are obligated to report it in the most expeditious means available.

So, having talked with your insurer and aviation attorney, make the call. The NTSB will follow up with you. On your first contact, provide the requested information but nothing more. Believe it or not, you have been traumatized and are not in any condition to do anything more than the basic routines of staying alive and maybe driving yourself home or to the hospital, even though you think you feel fine. You are in a situation akin to just getting out of a surgical procedure, or your blood/oxygen ratio is below 89%—you should not be signing a contract or giving a statement for at least 24 hours. If the NTSB or FAA asks you to answer questions, politely agree to do so at a later date. Under NTSB reg 831.7, you are entitled to have representation present when you are interviewed “in any manner.” When in doubt, stop talking. (Read that last sentence again.)

Media and Social Media

Do not, not, not talk with reporters about the accident. You aren’t going to single-handedly save general aviation in that interview. Trust us, you won’t do yourself any favors. Plus, anything you say will be scrutinized by the FAA, and you may load yourself into the boat because what you said is inconsistent with what you said in an interview or written report with the NTSB or FAA. 

Do not—not—post anything on social media. You may think that you are the greatest pilot in the world, and you have to tell the world about how your incredible skill and daring saved a load of passengers, but in telling about it, the odds are good that you’re going to open yourself up to further questions from the FAA and possibly an enforcement action. Just don’t do it.

The good news is that the FAA is following a procedure referred to as “Compliance Philosophy.” Talk to your attorney about it before talking to an FAA inspector if one reaches out to you. Simply put, the FAA is no longer spring-loaded to issue violations to pilots who made a mistake and want to comply with the FARs. One of two things usually happens after you admit to the inspector that you screwed up: He or she has you take some dual with a CFI, or she or he has you come in for a “709 Ride” where you show the inspector that, in the same type of airplane, you can operate it safely. We’ve covered 709 rides on AvBrief. If you have to take one, you’ll be nervous as your favorite cliché, but they generally are not an exciting event. You’ve already had plenty of excitement.

Bookmark This Report

Hopefully you won’t need it, but we’ll summarize the things you should do after you have an aircraft accident:

• Take a deep breath and focus on what’s important.
• Get medical assistance for the injured.
• Secure the aircraft.
• Call your insurance broker.
• Call an aviation attorney.
• Determine if the event meets the criteria for a reportable accident. 
• If not, don’t report it; continue to deal with your insurer to get the aircraft repaired. If it meets the NTSB definition of an accident, call the nearest NTSB office and report it.
• Do not grant an interview with anyone from the NTSB or FAA that day. Right now you need time to rest and recognize that you’ve just been through a traumatic event and begin to recover. Set up a time and date at least one day afterward, and talk with your attorney before you have any interview with the FAA or NTSB.
• Give honest, short, professional answers to the FAA and/or NTSB.
• Consult with your aviation attorney when you fill out the accident report.
• Decline to speak with the media. Do not post on social media.
• If the FAA asks you to take dual or come in for a 709 ride, do so. Refusal can lead to suspension of your pilot certificate. 
• Be professional at all times.