Boeing E75 N54087 and Cessna 172R N72566 accident near Houston, Texas

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to maintain visual contact while taxiing.

The pilot of the other airplane’s failure to maintain visual contact while taxiing.

NTSB analysis

After landing, the pilot was cleared to taxi his tailwheel-equipped airplane to the ramp and was aware that another airplane would be in front of him as he taxied. As he crossed over an active runway onto the taxiway, he steered straight ahead and did not perform any s-turns to maintain visual contact of the airplane ahead of him. As he cleared the runway, he looked down to change his radio frequency and suddenly realized that he needed to look out for the airplane in front of him. When he looked up, he saw the right wingtip of the other airplane and did not have time to stop before he collided into its tail. The collision resulted in substantial damage to the lower right wing spar. The other airplane sustained substantial damage to the entire tail section including the vertical stabilizer, the rudder, the horizontal stabilizer, and the empennage.

After landing, the certified flight instructor and the student pilot turned off the runway, passed over the hold short lines, and stopped on the taxiway to perform the after-landing checklist. While performing these duties, the airplane was struck from behind by another airplane and sustained substantial damage to the vertical stabilizer, rudder, horizontal stabilizer, and empennage. The other airplane sustained substantial damage to the lower right wing spar.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN11CA664 for the full record.