Many pilots appear to have the attitude that a flight begins with takeoff and ends when the airplane departs the runway after the landing roll. However, ground operations certainly cause their share of grief. While many taxi accidents are unavoidable, such as during bush operations, the majority fall into categories that can only be described as stupid human tricks.

A study of taxi accidents found an average of 50 accidents per year when pilots plunk slow-moving airplanes into stationary objects or get knocked over by the wind. Few of the accidents result in injuries, although the statistics include the unfortunate souls who walk into spinning propellers. …