Piper PA-18-150 N4330Z

Summary

On 24 March 2007 at about 16:40 local time, a Piper PA-18-150 registered N4330Z was involved in an accident near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 March 2007 at 16:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, United States

Coordinates

33.6744, -78.9236

Aircraft

Piper PA-18-150

Registration

N4330Z

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Banner Tow

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Conway → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ATL07CA055

Nobody was injured.

The loss of engine power due to undetermined reasons. A factor in the accident was the pilot's failure to follow emergency procedures when he failed to jettison the advertising banner prior to his forced landing in water.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with water following a loss of engine power. According to the pilot, he picked up a advertising banner at a private airport and proceeded at 1,000 feet agl to the beach. Upon arrival at the beach, he turned to a 250-degree heading and descended to 500 feet agl. The pilot stated that he switched to the right fuel tank, which was full, and experienced a power failure. He switched back to the left fuel tank but could not restore power. He landed in about two feet of water substantially damaging the airplane. Examination of the airplane by an FAA inspector found that the pilot had departed the private airport with 5-gallons of fuel in the left tank and 18-gallons of fuel in the right tank. When the pilot switched tanks the engine stalled. His attempt to restart the engine were unsuccessful. The engine was not equipped with an electric starter and it had stopped wind milling. The pilot conducted a forced landing onto the beach and did not drop the banner. Damage to the airplane consisted of the tail section, and damage to the airframe structure. There were no mechanical problems reported by the pilot or discovered during the post-accident examination of the airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.