Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Albert Whitted Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
St. Petersburg, Florida 33701
Saturday, November 12, 2005 14:36 EST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was towing a banner north and south over Madeira and Pass-A-Grille Beach, and he then turned east in a climbing turn to fly back to the airport at 1,000 feet MSL. While in the climbing turn, an engine oil leak started spraying oil on the windshield. His initial assignment was to drop the banner then pick up another for display over Vinoy Park. He immediately decided to terminate the flight as soon as possible to investigate the oil leak. He dropped the banner, and then made right traffic to land on runway 36. While turning and accelerating in the right turn, the oil leak increased in intensity, further destroying his forward visibility. As he crossed the threshold to land on 36, he had only limited peripheral vision "NONE ahead" and concentrated on getting the airplane down on the runway and stopped. At this point, he was concerned the leaking oil could burst into flames. Due to the visibility, the landing resulted in a ground loop. He notified the tower that he was ok, while shutting off switches and fuel flow, and exited the airplane by himself uninjured. A witness stated the accident flight was the pilot's very first solo banner tow flight. The pilot had been progressing well during his training enough to be permitted a solo banner pick flight. However during the solo flight he was not following training and set procedures. She contacted the tower to advise to have the pilot land. She was standing about 25 to 50 feet from the runway. The pilot had just dropped the banner and was going around to land. During his landing, all three wheels of the airplane were on the ground when she heard the airplane's engine power up again. The pilot appeared to be losing control, the airplane's wings where hitting the ground, going side to side as it was getting airborne; each wing hit a least twice. While the airplane was in the air it spun 180 degrees around and slammed into the ground. She ran over to check on the pilot. He had exited the airplane and stated he had no left rudder. The witness did not observe any abnormality with the flight control surfaces and did not see any oil on the wind shield. There was little wind during the accident. The crosswind condition was more challenging earlier during the day when the pilot was training. Later that day, the pilot told the owner of the airplane that he had no right rudder. The FAA inspector that conducted the initial examination of the accident airplane stated that he did not notice any evidence of oil leak. The color photos of the accident airplane taken by the airport manager after the accident did not indicate any evidence of oil leaks. The pilot did not declare an emergency nor did he mention a problem to airport tower when he was cleared to land.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during the landing roll resulting in substantial damage during a ground loop.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/12/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1436 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Standard Time |
| Event City | St. Petersburg |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 33701 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 274554N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0823737W |
| Event Location Airport | Albert Whitted Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KSPG |
| 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 | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | SPG |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| 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) | 27 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.09 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | -- |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19393 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Inspector from FSDO-35 |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 28 2006 1:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N2969M |
| NTSB Number | MIA06CA025 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| 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 | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-1456 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | -- |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | -- |
| ELT Activated | -- |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | -- |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Thomas W. Merrifield |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | -- |
| Aircraft Owner State | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Country | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | -- |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Advertising Air Force |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | St.Petersburg |
| Operator State | FL |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| 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) | Banner Tow |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | SPG |
| Departure City | St. Petersburg |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | EST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | St. Petersburg |
| Destination State | FL |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 29 2005 1:23PM |
| User who most recently changed record | KENJ |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 36 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |