Piper PA-18A-150 N9374D

Summary

On 3 September 1995 at about 16:07 local time, a Piper PA-18A-150 registered N9374D, operated by Scott Higgins, was involved in an accident near Egg Harbor, New Jersey, 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

3 September 1995 at 16:07

Classification

Accident

Location

Egg Harbor, New Jersey, United States

Coordinates

Not recorded

Aircraft

Piper PA-18A-150

Registration

N9374D

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Scott Higgins

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Ocean City → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC95FA212

1 person died.

Failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed during pull-up from a banner pickup, which resulted in a stall and collision with trees before recovering from the stall.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane approached the field, for the first banner pick up of the day, with no indications of difficulty. The pilot made contact with the pick-up loop, entered a climb, followed by a push over at approximately 200 feet AGL. The airplane lost some altitude and regained forward speed. The pilot released the banner, and the airplane began to pitch upward, followed by a continually increasing bank/roll to the right. The airplane rolled to a full 90 degrees, until it impacted with a tree. A witness stated, 'the aircraft's engine noise sounded normal...I then heard him pull the power...very shortly after I heard the sound of impact....' At the time of the accident, the pilot had approximately 500 hours total flight time, and 60 hours in this make and model airplane. The pilot was employed by the operator about two months earlier and he had approximately 40 hours flight time in banner towing operations. The pilot next to pick up a banner stated that the winds were 'light' out of the north and there was 'no turbulence.'

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.