PA23 pilot struck mobile helipad on initial taxiway at an FBO in pia.

Attributes
ACN	429888
Time
Date	199903
Day	Tue
Local Time Of Day	1801 To 2400
Place
Locale Reference	airport : pia
State Reference	IL
Altitude	agl bound lower : 0 agl bound upper : 0
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Night
Aircraft 1
Operator	common carrier : air taxi
Flight Phase	ground other : taxi
Flight Plan	IFR
Person 1
Affiliation	company : air carrier
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Qualification	pilot : commercial pilot : cfi
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 196 flight time total : 2050 flight time type : 420
ASRS Report	429888
Person 2
Affiliation	government : faa
Function	controller : ground
Events
Anomaly	conflict : ground critical other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : insufficient time
Consequence	other
Supplementary
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
Airport	other physical facility

Narrative:

On the morning of mar/tue/99, I parked a piper aztec in a legitimately marked tie down spot at the FBO in peoria, il. I laid over until XA55 local time, loaded freight and planned for my scheduled departure. After receiving my IFR clearance and taxi instructions from peoria clearance delivery, I started forward in a left turn. I felt the right propeller strike something and immediately shut it down with the mixture control. I then shut down the aircraft completely and exited the aircraft to see what had happened and found that the propeller had struck a mobile helipad that was sitting unmarked and unlighted in an area of the ramp marked for tie-down. I feel that a pilot needs to be aware of his/her surroundings, but having low profile objects in poorly lighted areas marked for something else does not help the situation.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: PA23 PLT STRUCK MOBILE HELIPAD ON INITIAL TXWY AT AN FBO IN PIA.

Narrative: ON THE MORNING OF MAR/TUE/99, I PARKED A PIPER AZTEC IN A LEGITIMATELY MARKED TIE DOWN SPOT AT THE FBO IN PEORIA, IL. I LAID OVER UNTIL XA55 LCL TIME, LOADED FREIGHT AND PLANNED FOR MY SCHEDULED DEP. AFTER RECEIVING MY IFR CLRNC AND TAXI INSTRUCTIONS FROM PEORIA CLRNC DELIVERY, I STARTED FORWARD IN A L TURN. I FELT THE R PROP STRIKE SOMETHING AND IMMEDIATELY SHUT IT DOWN WITH THE MIXTURE CTL. I THEN SHUT DOWN THE ACFT COMPLETELY AND EXITED THE ACFT TO SEE WHAT HAD HAPPENED AND FOUND THAT THE PROP HAD STRUCK A MOBILE HELIPAD THAT WAS SITTING UNMARKED AND UNLIGHTED IN AN AREA OF THE RAMP MARKED FOR TIE-DOWN. I FEEL THAT A PLT NEEDS TO BE AWARE OF HIS/HER SURROUNDINGS, BUT HAVING LOW PROFILE OBJECTS IN POORLY LIGHTED AREAS MARKED FOR SOMETHING ELSE DOES NOT HELP THE SIT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.