Narrative:

I am a line-captain on an small transport X with a 135 operator involved in the transportation of time critical material. When I arrived at allegheny county airport (agc), my home base, on the night of dec/wed/89, to depart on my daily route, on preflight the line service people approached me to point out airframe damage to the right wingtip they had discovered earlier in the day. As I approached the plane from a distance it was obvious that there had been a propeller strike to the right wingtip. This came as a total surprise to me as I hadn't noticed any damage when I traded planes the day before with another company pilot in baltimore (bwi). I finally had a chance to speak with the previous pilot of the aircraft 2 days after the damage was discovered. He told me he had a taxiway conflict with an small transport Z the morning just before we changed planes at bwi. He stated he had to pass the small transport Z on the right in the opposite direction on a taxiway but to his knowledge there had been no collision. The small transport Z captain had complained to the control tower that he and the small transport should not have been cleared to taxi on the same taxiway in opposite direction but recalled no collision or reported any damage to his aircraft. I had become involved in this because I traded planes with our company pilot and flew the damaged small transport X without knowing it was damaged. Apparently the right propeller of the small transport Z struck the right wingtip of the small transport X and neither pilot realized it. A contributing factor to my inadvertently flying the damaged small transport X was that I considered the aircraft to be airworthy as another company pilot had preflted it earlier that evening, flown it all night, and had landed just ahead of me. Another factor was due to scheduling and heavy snowfall in the bwi area. I was running late and hadn't really had the time to do a thorough preflight. Had I truly known the wingtip was damaged I would have not flown the plane at all. In the future I will always be sure to do a complete walkaround before I accept an aircraft from another company pilot, even if it's a friend.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ATX PLT OPERATED AN SMT WITH A DAMAGED WING TIP THAT WAS DISCOVERED THE NEXT DAY BY CGP.

Narrative: I AM A LINE-CAPT ON AN SMT X WITH A 135 OPERATOR INVOLVED IN THE TRANSPORTATION OF TIME CRITICAL MATERIAL. WHEN I ARRIVED AT ALLEGHENY COUNTY ARPT (AGC), MY HOME BASE, ON THE NIGHT OF DEC/WED/89, TO DEPART ON MY DAILY ROUTE, ON PREFLT THE LINE SERVICE PEOPLE APCHED ME TO POINT OUT AIRFRAME DAMAGE TO THE RIGHT WINGTIP THEY HAD DISCOVERED EARLIER IN THE DAY. AS I APCHED THE PLANE FROM A DISTANCE IT WAS OBVIOUS THAT THERE HAD BEEN A PROPELLER STRIKE TO THE RIGHT WINGTIP. THIS CAME AS A TOTAL SURPRISE TO ME AS I HADN'T NOTICED ANY DAMAGE WHEN I TRADED PLANES THE DAY BEFORE WITH ANOTHER COMPANY PLT IN BALTIMORE (BWI). I FINALLY HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK WITH THE PREVIOUS PLT OF THE ACFT 2 DAYS AFTER THE DAMAGE WAS DISCOVERED. HE TOLD ME HE HAD A TXWY CONFLICT WITH AN SMT Z THE MORNING JUST BEFORE WE CHANGED PLANES AT BWI. HE STATED HE HAD TO PASS THE SMT Z ON THE RIGHT IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION ON A TXWY BUT TO HIS KNOWLEDGE THERE HAD BEEN NO COLLISION. THE SMT Z CAPT HAD COMPLAINED TO THE CTL TWR THAT HE AND THE SMT SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN CLRED TO TAXI ON THE SAME TXWY IN OPPOSITE DIRECTION BUT RECALLED NO COLLISION OR REPORTED ANY DAMAGE TO HIS ACFT. I HAD BECOME INVOLVED IN THIS BECAUSE I TRADED PLANES WITH OUR COMPANY PLT AND FLEW THE DAMAGED SMT X WITHOUT KNOWING IT WAS DAMAGED. APPARENTLY THE RIGHT PROPELLER OF THE SMT Z STRUCK THE RIGHT WINGTIP OF THE SMT X AND NEITHER PLT REALIZED IT. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR TO MY INADVERTENTLY FLYING THE DAMAGED SMT X WAS THAT I CONSIDERED THE ACFT TO BE AIRWORTHY AS ANOTHER COMPANY PLT HAD PREFLTED IT EARLIER THAT EVENING, FLOWN IT ALL NIGHT, AND HAD LANDED JUST AHEAD OF ME. ANOTHER FACTOR WAS DUE TO SCHEDULING AND HEAVY SNOWFALL IN THE BWI AREA. I WAS RUNNING LATE AND HADN'T REALLY HAD THE TIME TO DO A THOROUGH PREFLT. HAD I TRULY KNOWN THE WINGTIP WAS DAMAGED I WOULD HAVE NOT FLOWN THE PLANE AT ALL. IN THE FUTURE I WILL ALWAYS BE SURE TO DO A COMPLETE WALKAROUND BEFORE I ACCEPT AN ACFT FROM ANOTHER COMPANY PLT, EVEN IF IT'S A FRIEND.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of August 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.