Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Lakefront Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
New Orleans, Louisiana 70126
Sunday, April 28, 2013 14:58 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that on his first low-pass attempt, he had missed picking up an advertising banner with the airplane’s grapple hook assembly. On the second pass, he thought he had again missed the aerial pickup towline, so he made a shallow climb. A steep climb is required when a banner is picked up to quickly lift the banner off the ground. The pilot was unaware that during the airplane’s second pass, the nose gear had inadvertently snagged the forward end of the 300-foot-long towline. The banner could not be jettisoned, and it was dragged on the ground during the shallow climb, creating additional drag on the airplane. The pilot reported an abrupt downward pull on the nose of the airplane, which caused him to lose control. The airplane impacted terrain about 1,000 feet south of the pickup location. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the lower fuselage, the engine mount, and the forward firewall. The pilot also reported that there was no preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure that would have precluded normal operation.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to perform a steep climb before going around following a low pass for a banner tow pickup.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/28/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1458 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | New Orleans |
| Event State | LOUISIANA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 70126 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 300219N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0900125W |
| Event Location Airport | LAKEFRONT AIRPORT |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | NEW |
| 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 | 7 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1453 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KNEW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 7 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| 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) | 19 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| 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) | 29.99 |
| 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) | 31471 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regl Opns Ctr - ASW Ft Wor |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2013 4:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | bowl |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N737FK |
| NTSB Number | CEN13CA246 |
| 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 | CESSNA |
| Aircraft Model | 172N |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 17269383 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 2550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 2 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | 2 |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 4 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 11 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 25 |
| Airframe Hours | 2733 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AIR RELDAN INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 25048 HIGHWAY 36 |
| Aircraft Owner City | ABITA SPRINGS |
| Aircraft Owner State | LA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 70420 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | AIR RELDAN INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 25048 HIGHWAY 36 |
| Operator City | ABITA SPRINGS |
| Operator State | LA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 70420 |
| Operator Code | HEBA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | HEBA615E |
| 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 | NEW |
| Departure City | New Orleans |
| Departure State | LA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | NEW |
| Destination City | New Orleans |
| Destination State | LA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 27 2013 11:48PM |
| User who most recently changed record | latt |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18L |
| Runway Length | 3697 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |