Bowman Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Louisville, Kentucky 40232
Saturday, September 5, 1998 16:10 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot was returning to land from his third banner flight of the day, and was towing a 25x75 foot banner. He made two attempts to release his banner, but both attempts failed, so he elected to land the airplane with the banner in tow. The pilot made a straight-in approach for the 3,539 foot long runway 14, and in an attempt to have the airplane touch down before the banner, he executed the approach steeper and faster than normal, but not as fast as he would have liked, because he wanted to get the airplane stopped before reaching an intersecting runway. By stopping before the intersecting runway, the pilot would prevent blocking it while he cleared the banner and airplane from the landing runway. When the airplane was over the runway and approximately 20 feet above the ground, the banner became snagged. The pilot applied full power, but the airplane stalled, and impacted the runway.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper inflight decision, and his failure to maintain adequate airspeed which resulted in a stall.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/5/1998
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1610
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City LOUISVILLE
Event State KENTUCKY
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 40232
Event Date Year 1998
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport BOWMAN FIELD
Event Location Nearest Airport ID LOU
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 546
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1356 Eastern Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 227
Weather Observation Facility ID SDF
Elevation of weather observation facility 477
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 7
Time Zone of the weather observation EDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 0
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 9000
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Scattered
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 8
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 33
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 19
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 290
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 6
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 None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 1203
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Sep 8 1998 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 840
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information IMAGE
Date of most recent change to record Dec 11 2000 11:47AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N5245G
NTSB Number NYC98LA181
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 305A
Aircraft Series Identifier 305A
Aircraft Serial Number
Certified Max Gross Weight 2100
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 Annual
Date of Last Inspection Dec 2 1997 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 317
Airframe Hours 8274
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name NICHOLAS SAUM
Aircraft Owner Street Address P.O. BOX 192
Aircraft Owner City EVERGLADES
Aircraft Owner State FL
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 34139
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
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 LOU
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 1400
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code LOU
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Approach
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 14
Runway Length 3539
Runway Width 80
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --