Prop strike, injured passenger and undeclared lithium batteries
During a Part 135 passenger flight, a Cessna 208 Caravan lands at a gravel strip. The propeller strikes a runway edge marker, producing a strong vibration. The pilot taxis to the parking area and shuts down. There is no fire and no visible fuel leak. One passenger complains of back pain and is taken to the local hospital, where a compression fracture is diagnosed. While unloading bags, a handler finds a parcel containing 20 lithium-ion power banks in the cargo compartment; it was not declared or listed on the load sheet. The pilot's initial view is that the prop strike is 'just a maintenance issue', that the passenger's injury is not his responsibility, and that the batteries can be carried on tomorrow's flight after a visual inspection. He has not yet telephoned anyone.
1. What notification obligations arise from the prop strike and the passenger injury?
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The pilot should treat this as a potentially notifiable accident and notify the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and the CAA immediately under Part 12. The propeller strike caused damage to the aircraft, and a passenger has a compression fracture, which is a serious injury. Those factors take the occurrence beyond an ordinary maintenance defect. The pilot should not wait until the next day or assume that because there was no fire, no notification is required. The operator's emergency and occurrence procedures should also be activated. The pilot should provide the basic facts: aircraft identity, location, injuries, damage, dangerous goods found and contact details. The pilot should preserve the scene and the aircraft's records, and should not permit the aircraft to fly again until the investigating authorities and the maintenance organisation have dealt with it.
2. How should the aircraft and evidence be handled?
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The aircraft should be parked securely and left as far as possible in the condition it was after the occurrence. The propeller, marker strike point, engine and airframe should be photographed before anything is moved, and the maintenance records, load sheet, passenger manifest and weather information should be retained. The aircraft should not be flown or dismantled without CAA or TAIC direction, except to prevent injury or serious damage. The operator should arrange a qualified maintenance inspection, including propeller and engine shock-loading checks, and should treat the aircraft as unairworthy until that inspection is complete. The pilot should make a written report and should not rely on a verbal account. If the authorities direct recovery or movement, the operator should document exactly what was moved and why.
3. What are the dangerous goods and enforcement implications of the undeclared power banks?
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The 20 lithium-ion power banks are dangerous goods, and their presence in the cargo compartment without declaration, acceptance checks or load-sheet entry is a serious breach of Part 175 and the dangerous goods rules. The pilot should not carry them on tomorrow's flight. They should be secured, isolated and reported as a dangerous goods incident to the CAA and the operator's dangerous goods adviser. The operator should establish how the parcel entered the aircraft and whether passenger baggage screening or acceptance procedures failed. Enforcement consequences can include CAA investigation, infringement notices, suspension or variation of the operator's certificate, and prosecution for offences under the Civil Aviation Act and the dangerous goods rules. The pilot's suggestion of a visual inspection is not an acceptable substitute for proper dangerous goods acceptance, packaging, marking and declaration. The priority is safety, preservation of evidence and full reporting.