Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Pearson Field Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Vancouver, Washington 98661
Monday, July 4, 2011 20:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The banner tow pilot reported that he approached the banner tow pickup point to catch the rope with his tail hook. Shortly after his initial pitch up maneuver to hook the rope, the pilot observed through a small mirror that the rope was not attached to his tail hook. Subsequently the banner lifted off the ground and the pilot could see that the banner rope looked like it was resting on or around his right horizontal stabilizer. Photos taken of the airplane in the air by a witness prior to the accident show the tow rope hooked around the nose gear and looped over the right horizontal stabilizer. Unable to release the banner, the pilot returned to land on the grassy area next to the runway as he was concerned that the banner might get snagged on obstacles located around the runway. As the pilot began his landing approach at approximately a 300 foot per minute descent and was crossing the west end of the runway, he brought the throttle to idle, added full flaps, and tried to maintain 60 mph. As the airplane descended the banner contacted the ground resulting in a significant amount of drag to the airplane. According to the pilot the airspeed began to drop and he attempted to maintain it by further lowering the nose. The airplane contacted the ground hard and the firewall sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airframe and engine that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to properly engage the banner tow rope with the airplane's tail hook.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/4/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 2035 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Vancouver |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98661 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 453708N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1223914W |
| Event Location Airport | Pearson Field |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KVUO |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 25 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2053 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KVUO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 25 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 311 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.08 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | METAR KVUO 050053Z 34007G16KT 290V030 10SM CLR 27/ |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28774 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Sep 14 2011 11:45AM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5175D |
| NTSB Number | WPR11CA309 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 182A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 51275 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2800 |
| 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 | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 13 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 75 |
| Airframe Hours | 12625 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | SKY SIGNS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | RENTON |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98056-1504 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | SKY SIGNS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Renton |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98056-1504 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| 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 | KVUO |
| Departure City | Vancouver |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1710 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KVUO |
| Destination City | Vancouver |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 22 2011 6:33PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |