Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29577
Monday, July 8, 1991 13:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
AFTER ABOUT 30 MINUTES OF OPERATION, DURING A BANNER TOW FLIGHT, THE ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGHLY. THE AIRPLANE WAS AT 300 FEET OVER THE OCEAN ADJACENT TO A PUBLIC BEACH. UNABLE TO MAINTAIN ALTITUDE THE PILOT DITCHED IN THE OCEAN TO AVOID THE CROWDED BEACH. SUBSEQUENT EXAMINATION OF THE ENGINE REVEALED THAT THE NO. 4 CYLINDER EXHAUST VALVE HAD BROKEN AT THE PISTON END. THE ENGINE HAD 1939 HOURS SINCE THE LAST OVERHAUL.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE FAILURE OF THE NUMBER 4 CYLINDER EXHAUST VALVE. FACTORS IN THE ACCIDENT WERE THE LACK OF A SUITABLE LANDING SITE AND THE WATER DITCHING.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/8/1991 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1315 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | MYRTLE BEACH |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29577 |
| Event Date Year | 1991 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 0 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1245 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 315 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CRE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 33 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 25000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 10000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 0 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 0 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| 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) | 1028 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | 0 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 44875 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 12 2000 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4401M |
| NTSB Number | ATL91LA125 |
| 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-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-3341 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 6 1991 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 9 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EMU, INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 753 HIGHWAY 17 BYPASS |
| Aircraft Owner City | MT. PLEASANT |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 209464 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SKY SIGNS, INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 6920 HIGHWAY 701 SOUTH |
| Operator City | CONWAY |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 29527 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Airport Code | NONE |
| Departure City | CONWAY |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1245 |
| 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 | Cruise |
| 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 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 0 |
| Runway Width | 0 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |