Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Warrington Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Selbyville, Delaware 19975
Monday, June 7, 1993 12:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PILOT WAS CONDUCTING A BANNER TOW PICKUP. ANOTHER TOW PILOT WHO WAS PERFORMING GROUND DUTIES STATED THAT THE APPROACH AND CLIMB SEEMED NORMAL UNTIL ABOUT 50 TO 100 FEET, WHEN THE AIRPLANE NOSED OVER FOR A FEW SECONDS AND THEN STARTED TO CLIMB AGAIN. THE WITNESS SAID THE BANNER PICKUP WAS NORMAL, BUT THEN THE TOW AIRPLANE 'STARTED TO DESCEND AND WOBBLE THE WINGS.' THE BANNER WAS RELEASED AND THE AIRCRAFT NOSE 'PITCHED UP.' THE WITNESS SAID THE AIRPLANE THEN APPEARED TO STALL AND DID A 180 DEGREE TURN TO THE RIGHT AND HIT THE GROUND IN A STEEP ATTITUDE. THE INVESTIGATION DID NOT DISCLOSE EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL MALFUNCTION. THE PILOT COMPLETED BANNER TOWING TRAINING ABOUT A MONTH EARLIER, AND HE HAD SINCE ACQUIRED ABOUT 33 HOURS TOTAL TIME OF BANNER TOWING EXPERIENCE.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN PROPER AIRSPEED RESULTING IN AN INADVERTENT STALL/SPIN AND COLLISION WITH THE TERRAIN. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE PILOT'S LACK OF EXPERIENCE IN THE BANNER TOWING OPERATION.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/7/1993 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1230 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | SELBYVILLE |
| Event State | DELAWARE |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 19975 |
| Event Date Year | 1993 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WARRINGTON AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NONE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 22 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1253 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SBY |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 51 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 32 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| 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) | 15 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 260 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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) | 1803 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 7 1993 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1300 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 1:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N3981U |
| NTSB Number | NYC93FA102 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 150E |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 150E |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 15061381 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1600 |
| 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 2 1993 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GENERAL AIR SERVICES, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2316 BAYNARD BLVD |
| Aircraft Owner City | WILMINGTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | DE |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 19802 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | ATLANTIC COASTAL AERIAL |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | RD 1, BOX 38A |
| Operator City | SELBYVILLE |
| Operator State | DE |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 19975 |
| 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) | Other Work Use |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| 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 | 36 |
| Runway Length | 2100 |
| Runway Width | 40 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |