Cessna 305A N5208G

Summary

On 3 September 2004 at about 18:15 local time, a Cessna 305A registered N5208G was involved in an accident near Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 September 2004 at 18:15

Classification

Accident

Location

Lawrence, Massachusetts, United States

Nearest airport

Lawrence Muni (LWM)

Coordinates

42.7169, -71.1233

Aircraft

Cessna 305A

Registration

N5208G

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Other Work Use

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Lawrence → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

NYC04CA202

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadvertent pickup of a banner towline with the airplanes main landing gear after encountering gusting wind conditions. A factor related to the accident was the gusting wind conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

As the pilot initiated the banner pick up, moderate turbulence was encountered, and the airplane began to descend. The turbulence encounter lasted momentarily, and all of the pilot's visual cues indicated that the banner towline was picked up normally. As the airplane was climbing out, the pilot felt the airplane swerve to the right, and observed that the banner towline was hooked around the right main landing gear assembly. Realizing that the airplane was subjected to increased drag, the pilot lowered the nose, and performed a forced landing to a grass field. As the airplane neared the ground, the banner touched down first, and induced more drag on the airplane. The pilot added additional power to compensate; however, the airplane touched down hard, and continued down an embankment, where it came to rest inverted. The winds reported at the airport, about the time of the accident, were from 270 degrees at 11 knots, gusting to 16 knots.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.