Bellanca 8GCBC N86587

Summary

On 19 August 1995 at about 18:40 local time, a Bellanca 8GCBC registered N86587, operated by United Aerial Advertising, was involved in an accident near East Moriches, New York, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 August 1995 at 18:40

Classification

Accident

Location

East Moriches, New York, United States

Nearest airport

Lufker (4NY7)

Coordinates

40.8107, -72.7608

Aircraft

Bellanca 8GCBC

Registration

N86587

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

United Aerial Advertising

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

BFO95FA082

1 person died.

the structural failure of the wing for undetermined reasons.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

Witnesses stated that the pilot missed the banner pick up on the first pass, and returned for a second attempt. One witness stated that when the pilot missed the banner pick up again, and began to climb out the second time, '...a portion of the right wing folded back.' The witness reported that the airplane rolled to the right, and the nose dropped below the horizon. The airplane impacted terrain, and a postcrash fire ensued. Winds were reported to be out of the northeast at 10 knots, with gusts to 20 knots. Postaccident examination of the wing was complicated by fire damage; however, the USDA Forest Products Laboratory examination revealed that the wooden spar failure was '...caused by a force applied in an upward direction...' and that there was '...no apparent [preimpact] problem with the quality of the wooden material....'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.