Lufker Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

East Moriches, New York 11940
Saturday, August 19, 1995 14:40 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

Witnesses stated that the pilot missed the banner pick up on the first pass, and returned for a second attempt. One witness stated that when the pilot missed the banner pick up again, and began to climb out the second time, '...a portion of the right wing folded back.' The witness reported that the airplane rolled to the right, and the nose dropped below the horizon. The airplane impacted terrain, and a postcrash fire ensued. Winds were reported to be out of the northeast at 10 knots, with gusts to 20 knots. Postaccident examination of the wing was complicated by fire damage; however, the USDA Forest Products Laboratory examination revealed that the wooden spar failure was '...caused by a force applied in an upward direction...' and that there was '...no apparent [preimpact] problem with the quality of the wooden material....'

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

the structural failure of the wing for undetermined reasons.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/19/1995
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1440
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City EAST MORICHES
Event State NEW YORK
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 11940
Event Date Year 1995
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport LUFKER
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 4NY7
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 57
Weather Briefing Completeness Not pertinent
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1450 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 90
Weather Observation Facility ID HTO
Elevation of weather observation facility 55
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 25
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Unknown
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 25
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 60
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust (knots) 20
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 1
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1763
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Aug 19 1995 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1530
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 7 2000 4:29PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N86587
NTSB Number BFO95FA082
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire Ground
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name BELLANCA
Aircraft Model 8GCBC
Aircraft Series Identifier 8GCBC
Aircraft Serial Number 4-74
Certified Max Gross Weight 2150
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 19 1995 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 80
Airframe Hours 3710
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name GSF HOLDING CORP
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1050 S. STATE ST
Aircraft Owner City DOVER
Aircraft Owner State DE
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 19901
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name UNITED AERIAL ADVERTISING
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address
Operator City
Operator State
Operator Country
Operator Zip code
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Unknown
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code 4NY7
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 0
Departure Time Zone
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:34AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 36
Runway Length 2300
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --