Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ocean City Minicipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ocean City, New Jersey 08226
Wednesday, August 12, 1992 15:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
DURING BANNER PICKUP THE TOW ROPE BECAME WRAPPED AROUND THE RELEASE HOOK AND THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO RELEASE THE BANNER UPON THE COMPLETION OF THE FLIGHT. LANDING WITH A RIGHT CROSSWIND AND THE BANNER STILL ATTACHED, THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL THE DIRECTION OF THE AIRPLANE AS HE SLOWED, AND THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED THE RUNWAY TO THE LEFT SIDE, AND NOSED OVER. THE BANNER ATTACH POINT WAS A HOOK ON THE END OF A ROD, WHICH WAS ATTACHED TO THE MAIN LANDING GEAR, WHICH IS FORWARD OF THE CENTER OF GRAVITY. THIS MADE DIRECTIONAL CONTROL VERY DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE AS THE AIRPLANE SLOWED. ACCORDING TO AN FAA INSPECTOR FAMILIAR WITH BANNER TOWING, ROPE IS MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO TWISTING AROUND THE RELEASE HOOK THAN METAL CABLES. IN ADDITION, HE SAID THAT TAILWHEEL MOUNTED TOW HITCHES ARE SAFER THAN THOSE MOUNTED ON THE MAIN LANDING GEAR. ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS DISCLOSED BOTH TOW HITCH SYSTEMS AND ROPE ARE IN COMMON USE FOR BANNER TOWING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE AIRPLANE NOSING OVER ON LANDING ROLL DUE TO INADEQUATE AIRPLANE HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS WHILE LANDING WITH THE BANNER ATTACHED. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE USE OF ROPE INSTEAD OF STEEL CABLE, THE MAIN LANDING GEAR MOUNTED TOW HITCH, AND THE CROSSWIND.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/12/1992 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | OCEAN CITY |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08226 |
| Event Date Year | 1992 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | OCEAN CITY MINICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 26N |
| 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 | 8 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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) | 586 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 14 1992 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 950 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 47984 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 3:13PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9374D |
| NTSB Number | NYC92LA162 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-18A-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-18A-150 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 186639 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | Jun 23 1992 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 108 |
| Airframe Hours | 8570 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GENERAL AERIAL ADVERTISING |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 2330 |
| Aircraft Owner City | VENTNOR |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08406 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | GENERAL AERIAL ADVERTISING |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 2330 |
| Operator City | VENTNOR |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 08406 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 1N6 |
| Departure City | BARGINTOWN |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1200 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 6 |
| Runway Length | 2540 |
| Runway Width | 45 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |