Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Plantation, Florida 33332
Friday, July 25, 2003 9:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that after one and a half hours into the flight, when proceeding back to the airport to drop off the banner, suddenly the airplane's engine started to operate rough, and there was a decrease in engine RPMs. He said that at that time the airplane was unable to maintain altitude with the decrease in engine power. Soon after that he said the engine started to cough and the propeller began to slow its revolutions. He said he then performed the emergency checklist, and attempted to restart the engine but it would not start, so he looked for a safe area to drop the banner, and made a precautionary landing on a golf course. During landing the pilot said the right main landing hear wheel hit a "roll" in the fairway and the airplane was damaged. The pilot said that the fuel gage was indicating over a quarter of a tank of fuel, and he did not list any other mechanical failure or malfunction to the airplane or to any of its systems. An FAA inspector who responded to the accident stated that he examined the airplane, and minimal fuel was found on board the airplane, and there was no evidence of any fuel having exited the airplane as a result of the accident. In addition, the inspector said that when he interviewed the pilot, the pilot told him he had not placed any fuel in the airplane the day of the accident, and that the pilot said that when he checked the fuel quantity before the flight as part of the preflight procedure, he attempted to feel the fuel by placing his finger in the refueling access. He said the pilot said that he could not feel any fuel in the tank, so he shook the airplane, and fuel splashed on his finger. Information obtained from the operator showed that fuel had last been purchased and placed in the accident airplane's fuel tanks the day before the accident, and that another pilot employed by the operator had flown the airplane for about two and a half hours on that day.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper preflight planning and failure to refuel before the flight, which resulted in fuel exhaustion, a forced landing and damage to the airplane during the landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/25/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 905 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Plantation |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33332 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 260005N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0801425W |
| 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 | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 931 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | FLL |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 9 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 29 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 23 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 130 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.12 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 1600 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15353 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ATL. Comm. Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 25 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1602 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 28 2004 3:34PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fort Lauderdale, Florida |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N72AB |
| NTSB Number | MIA03LA149 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-25-235 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | N72AB |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2900 |
| 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 | May 2 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 80 |
| Airframe Hours | 480 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Bob Benyo |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 830 S Wind Circle |
| Aircraft Owner City | Sunrise |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 33326 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Aerial Banners, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1112 Weston Road., Ste. 137 |
| Operator City | Fort Lauderdale |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 33326 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | OPF |
| Departure City | Pembroke Pines |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 715 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | OPF |
| Destination City | Miami |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | Yes |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2004 10:42AM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |