Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grand Strand Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 29582
Sunday, July 15, 2012 9:00 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that he was conducting a banner-tow flight; he turned on final approach at 300 feet above ground level (agl) and reduced the power to the idle position. His airspeed was between 60 and 70 mph. The carburetor heat was not activated, which the pilot indicated was company policy. The company refuted the pilot’s statement regarding carburetor heat. The airplane descended to about 10 feet agl and was 50 feet from the banner pick up poles. He added full power and noticed that the rpm was at 2,500, which was 100 rpm less than full power. He pitched the nose up and the airplane climbed to about 200 feet. The rpm continued to decrease to 1500 rpm. The pilot lowered the nose and checked the throttle, and it was full forward. He increased the mixture, and there was no change in rpm. The airplane would not maintain altitude, and he informed the tower that he was going down. He reduced the throttle to the idle position and lowered the flaps to the full down position. He made a forced landing beyond the banner tow grass area, clearing a berm and colliding with the airport perimeter fence. The airplane nosed over and came to a complete stop and the engine stopped running. The pilot turned the fuel off at the fuel selector valve. The pilot stated that he did not experience any mechanical problems with the airframe or flight controls before the accident. A carburetor icing chart indicated that the airplane was at risk of serious icing at glide power given the weather conditions at the time of the accident.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate use of carburetor heat during cruise flight, which resulted in a partial loss of engine power and subsequent forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/15/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 900 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | North Myrtle Beach |
| Event State | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 29582 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 334842N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0784326W |
| Event Location Airport | Grand Strand Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CRE |
| 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 | 31 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 853 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | CRE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 31 |
| 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 | 2200 |
| 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) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 30 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 3 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.14 |
| 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 |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30152 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Southern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 1 2012 2:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8048D |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA453 |
| 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-18-150 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 54-2592 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1700 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 1 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 1 |
| 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 11 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 18747 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | BARNSTORMER FLITE SIGNS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 1728 |
| Aircraft Owner City | NORTH MYRTLE BEACH |
| Aircraft Owner State | SC |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 29598-1728 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | BARNSTORMER FLITE SIGNS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 1728 |
| Operator City | NORTH MYRTLE BEACH |
| Operator State | SC |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 29598-1728 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | CRE |
| Departure City | North Myrtle Beach |
| Departure State | SC |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | CRE |
| Destination City | North Myrtle Beach |
| Destination State | SC |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 1 2012 2:49PM |
| User who most recently changed record | gots |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |