Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Paramount Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Green Creek, New Jersey 08210
Thursday, July 26, 2012 16:15 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot was returning to land after an uneventful banner-towing flight. He dropped the banner, added full engine power, climbed to traffic pattern altitude, and maneuvered to enter the downwind leg of the traffic pattern. During the climb, the engine sputtered and then lost total power. The pilot was not able to restart the engine and performed a forced landing into trees. Postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation. Both fuel tanks were intact; the right fuel tank was found empty and the left fuel tank contained about 1.75 gallons of fuel. The airplane had been operated for more than 4 1/2 hours since its last refueling. It is likely that the airplane's low fuel state, combined with the maneuvering associated with the banner drop and the airplane’s subsequent pitch-up and airport traffic pattern operations resulted in an interruption of fuel flow to the engine.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate fuel planning, which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel starvation while maneuvering.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/26/2012 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1615 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Green Creek |
| Event State | NEW JERSEY |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 08210 |
| Event Date Year | 2012 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 390354N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745434W |
| Event Location Airport | Paramount |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | JY04 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 8 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1615 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | WWD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 23 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 3 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| 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) | 31 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 24 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.73 |
| 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) | 31149 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Eastern ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 22 2013 12:46PM |
| User who most recently changed record | kenj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N4361M |
| NTSB Number | ERA12LA482 |
| 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 | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-12 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 12-3298 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1750 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 17 2012 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 197 |
| Airframe Hours | 9704 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PARAMOUNT AIR SERVICE INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | PO BOX 155 |
| Aircraft Owner City | RIO GRANDE |
| Aircraft Owner State | NJ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 08242 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PARAMOUNT AIR SERVICE INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | PO BOX 155 |
| Operator City | RIO GRANDE |
| Operator State | NJ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 08242 |
| 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 | JY04 |
| Departure City | Green Creek |
| Departure State | NJ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1135 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | JY04 |
| Destination City | Green Creek |
| Destination State | NJ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 12 2013 2:58PM |
| User who most recently changed record | reej |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 14 |
| Runway Length | 2000 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |