When propping a C172 by hand due to a dead battery; the pilot failed to set the parking brake and wa...

Narrative:

The battery on the airplane was dead; so I was attempting to start it by hand-propping it. I have received instruction from a CFI in proper procedures. I set the parking brake; but did not chock the wheels. The engine would not start after numerous attempts; so I decided to put the plane back in the hangar. I released the parking brake in preparation for the push-back. Then; without thinking; I decided to make one more attempt at starting the engine. This time; it started right away and began taxiing on its own. It traveled about 100 feet and ran into a t-hangar. The propeller was bent and the left wing tip was dented. From my inspection; it appears that only one rib was damaged. There was also a slight buckle in the skin of that wing about halfway from the fuselage to the wing tip. My understanding is that this is not a reportable accident under NTSB rules since (1) I never boarded the aircraft; (2) there was no serious injury involved (3) damage to the hangar was substantially less than $25;000; and (4) damage to the aircraft was not substantial.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: When propping a C172 by hand due to a dead battery; the pilot failed to set the parking brake and was unable to restrain it after the engine started. Damage was limited to the aircraft and the T-hangar which arrested it.

Narrative: The battery on the airplane was dead; so I was attempting to start it by hand-propping it. I have received instruction from a CFI in proper procedures. I set the parking brake; but did not chock the wheels. The engine would not start after numerous attempts; so I decided to put the plane back in the hangar. I released the parking brake in preparation for the push-back. Then; without thinking; I decided to make one more attempt at starting the engine. This time; it started right away and began taxiing on its own. It traveled about 100 feet and ran into a T-hangar. The propeller was bent and the left wing tip was dented. From my inspection; it appears that only one rib was damaged. There was also a slight buckle in the skin of that wing about halfway from the fuselage to the wing tip. My understanding is that this is not a reportable accident under NTSB rules since (1) I never boarded the aircraft; (2) there was no serious injury involved (3) damage to the hangar was substantially less than $25;000; and (4) damage to the aircraft was not substantial.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.

Attributes
ACN	876222
Time
Date	201003
Local Time Of Day	0601-1200
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Taxi Parked
Flight Plan	None
Component
Aircraft Component	Engine
Person 1
Function	Single Pilot
Qualification	Flight Crew Private
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 5 Flight Crew Total 583 Flight Crew Type 575
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Ground Event / Encounter Loss Of Aircraft Control Ground Event / Encounter Object

When propping a C172 by hand due to a dead battery; the pilot failed to set the parking brake and was unable to restrain it after the engine started. Damage was limited to the aircraft and the t-hangar which arrested it.