Banner Towing, Dallas Redbird operation
May 12, 2005
We've been grounded by the FAA for over a week now :-(
The following text was copied from the NTSB website at
http://www.ntsb.gov/NTSB/brief.asp?ev_id=20050502X00532&key=1
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, April 29, 2005 in Houston, TX
Aircraft: Piper PA-25-235, registration: N4514Y
Injuries: 1 Minor.
On April 29, 2005, at 1600 central daylight time, Piper PA-25-235 single-engine airplane, N4514Y, was substantially damaged during a forced landing following a reported loss of engine power while on a banner-towing flight near Houston, Texas. The instrument rated commercial pilot, sole occupant of the airplane, sustained minor injuries. The airplane was owned and operated by Nighthawk Aerial Advertising, Inc., of Pearland, Texas. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and a flight plan was not filed for the 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 banner-towing flight. The local flight originated from the Pearland Regional Airport (LVJ) approximately 30 minutes prior to the accident.
According to the FAA inspector, who responded to the accident site, the pilot reported a total loss of engine power while in cruise flight. The pilot reported that he released the banner and initiated a forced landing to a vacant school yard.
During the forced landing, the main landing gear of the tailwheel-equipped airplane collided with the chain link fence installed around the school tennis court. The airplane touched down within the school yard, and came to a stop in the upright position after a ground roll of approximately 200 feet. There was no fire and other than the fence, there were no additional damage to Lee High School. There were no injuries to anyone on the ground.
Examination of the 1966 model airplane revealed that the fence posts penetrated the left wing resulting in structural damage. Fuel was found on both fuel cells. There was no external damage or deformation to the Lycoming O-540 engine. A conditional released was issued to the operator for the recovery of the aircraft to a secured location for further examination and or testing.
The Houston Hobby Airport (HOU), located approximately 15 miles from the accident site, was reporting at 1553 local, the following weather conditions: wind from 190 degrees at 12 knots, gusting to 18 knots, visibility of 6 statute miles in haze, a broken ceiling at 2,800 feet, 5,500 feet overcast, with a temperature 28 degrees Centigrade , and a dew point of 22 degrees Centigrade. The altimeter setting was reported at 29.72 inches of Mercury.
I have (before) pictures of the airplane in the above report here on my training page. This was the airplane that had the prototype automatic hook release mechanism.
The FAA is crawling all over Stuart's airplanes in Houston and now in Dallas. I went to the airport (RBD) on Tuesday, May 10th and shot a few photographs. Stuart plans on getting all the airplanes back in the air ASAP, but the FAA doesn't move "ASAP".
Sigh, I didn't realize how much fun flying banners was until I had to temporarily quit flying them.
Hugh II
The shiny vertical line you see in the 3 photos below are right next to the upper right motor mount on the O-540 that I had the jug fail on in a previous report. The mechanic who is inspecting the airplane said the flexible baffling material came loose and the aluminum that forms the pressure chamber for engine cooling came loose and had been rubbing (actually sawing) away on the crank case. If you look real close at the top of the "saw" mark, you can see that it wore totally through the case and there is a gap/crack starting to form where oil began oozing out of the case. I never saw this on my preflight inspections, but you can be assured I will be aggressively looking under/around things closer in the future.
This is the offending "jug" that failed on me. Look at the buildup around
the exhaust valve on the right
You can see the twin oil coolers on either side of the carburetor real good in
this shot. This is why these motors have such superb oil cooling at low
speeds and high power settings.
This is the airplane with the bad jug and sliced crank case. It is our
only Pawnee with the original factory wings.
The photo above and below show a failed fabric patch above the left wing tank of
the Bellanca Scout.
I DID catch this problem on my preflight inspection!
The funny looking short straight things are the Vortex Generators. Look
under the peeled up fabric and you can see that the surface underneath was not
properly prepared for the "patch" that was applied over it. No wonder it
peeled off.
Check out the wingtip of the Hutch wing. It's squared off with a "cuff"
underneath.
Front view of the "Hutch" wingtip
Front view of a stock Pawnee wingtip