Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Allair Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Farmingdale, New Jersey 07727
Thursday, July 18, 1996 12:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot of a Champion 7GCBC (Citabria) departed for a banner pickup. He was observed to miss on his first attempted pickup, and he maneuvered the airplane back for another pickup maneuver. At about the time of the pickup, the pilot of another airplane had just turned from crosswind to downwind. The pilot of the other airplane said that he looked and saw the Citabria impact the ground in a nose down and right wing low attitude. The airplane was found with the tow rope still attached, but the banner had never moved. The fuselage was crushed and the wings were bend down so that both wing tips touched the ground. Fuel was found in the fuel tanks and in a line leading to the engine. There was no evidence of a preimpact mechanical failure or malfunction of the airplane. The pilot had recently qualified as a banner tow pilot. Since becoming qualified, he had completed 12 banner pickups. His total flight time was 445 hours.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's improper handling of the airplane during a banner pickup maneuver, which resulted in a stall/mush and collision with the ground. A factor relating to the accident was: the pilot's lack of experience in the type of operation.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/18/1996 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | FARMINGDALE |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 07727 |
| Event Date Year | 1996 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | ALLAIR |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BLM |
| 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 | 157 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1251 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 10 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | EWR |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 18 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 27 |
| 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 | None |
| 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) | 32 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 18 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 290 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| 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) | 1239 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 18 1996 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1320 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 10:13AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N7557F |
| NTSB Number | NYC96FA152 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Unknown |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Champion |
| Aircraft Model | 7GCBC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 7GCBC |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 225-70 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1650 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 20 1996 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 58 |
| Airframe Hours | 3772 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | UNITED AERIAL ADVERTISING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 150 SOUTH STATE STREET |
| Aircraft Owner City | DOVER |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19901 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 2482 |
| Operator City | FARMINGDALE |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 07727 |
| 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 | BLM |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1210 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |