- Date
- September 4, 1983, 16:20 local (20:20 UTC)
- Place
- Dayton, KY
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N88223Bellanca 7GCAA
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830904046989A
- Case key
- 6191
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The acft was modified to tow banners & was being used for that purpose. After the acft had been flown about 3 hrs & 20 min, the plt took off on his 4th banner tow flt. He stated that he had used the fuel gages to estimate the amount of fuel remaining. The estimated that 5 or more gal of fuel was on board prior to his last takeoff. He flew to a stadium where he made 6 to 8 turns. He had just started back to the arpt when the eng lost power. Following the loss of power, he reportedly used an airspeed of 60 mph. The owner's manual recommended a minimum speed of 65 mph for attempting a restart. Subsequently, he released the banner just prior to ditching in a river. The acft was towed to the river bank by a boat & was recovered later. Aprx 2 gal of fuel was found remaining in the fuel tanks. No preimpact/mechanicl failures were found.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N88223
- Reported as
- Bellanca 7GCAA
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 301-74
- Airframe hours
- 1,888
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-A2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Gerald W. West & Gary'S Banner
- Registered owner
- Gerald W. West
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · April 30, 1983 · 210 hours before
- Departed
- LUK · Cincinnati, OH
- Airport
- LUK · Lunken Field
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 24
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,660 total · 58 in this make and model · 1,507 as pilot in command · 245 in the last 90 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 12 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 5,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 88 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- LUK, 3 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.