Probable cause
A bystander’s inadvertent contact with the propeller while the engine was running.
NTSB analysis
The pilot made a fuel stop as part of a solo cross-country flight. The pilot’s mother and sister had come out to the airport to visit. After fueling the airplane, his mother and sister returned to their car. The pilot conducted his preflight, started the engine, and was completing the checklist when he “heard and felt a violent thud.” He looked up to see his mother “sprinting towards the car.” The pilot shutdown the airplane. The pilot’s mother had returned to the airplane unexpectedly and was struck by the propeller resulting in a serious injury to her left arm. The airplane exhibited no obvious damage.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN21LA083 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Dec 10, 2020
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- Glencoe, Minnesota
- Nearest airport
- Glencoe Municipal (GYL)
- Highest injury
- Serious
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Night
Cessna 172
- N-number
- N1956V
- Category
- Airplane
- Year built
- 2005
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Instructional
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.