- Date
- April 17, 1996, 14:29 local (20:29 UTC)
- Place
- Erie, CO
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N5245GCessna 305A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 19, 1996
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19960417047159A
- Case key
- 19806
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
entanglement of the tow banner during banner pickup, and subsequent failure or inability to jettison the banner. A factor relating to the accident was: high gusty wind condition.
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
After taking off from runway 15, the pilot initiated a banner pickup in winds that were from 230 degrees at 24 with gusts to 33 knots. The pilot reported that the banner became tangled during pickup, which created more drag than the airplane could overpower. According to him, 'the banner opened up like a parachute and raised above the airplane which made the release mechanism inoperable and unable to release.' Subsequently, the airplane touched down in a field approximately 1,200 feet beyond the departure end of the runway and was damaged.
Factual narrative
On April 17, 1996, at 1429 mountain daylight time, a Cessna 305A, N5245G, sustained substantial damage when the landing gear collapsed during a forced landing near Erie, Colorado. The commercial pilot was not injured. The flight was operating as a banner tow flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The aircraft had been airborne approximately 1 minute when the accident occurred. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
According to the pilot, he had picked up a banner for a banner tow operation. Strong winds caught the banner and the pilot could not control the aircraft. Wind at the time of the accident was recorded as being from 230 degrees magnetic at 24 knots with gusts to 33 knots. The flight had departed from runway 15 and came to rest approximately 1,200 feet beyond the departure end of the runway in an open field.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N5245G
- Reported as
- Cessna 305A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 21327
- Engine
- Continental O-470, 195 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Operator
- Chris E. Turner, doing business as Crosswind Aviation, Inc.
- Registered owner
- Jerry Finch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- 48V
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
- 27
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 2,340 total · 60 in this make and model · 2,200 as pilot in command · 280 in the last 90 days · 170 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 24 knots, gusting 33
- Visibility
- 60 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 68 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- BJC, 15 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.
Other investigations on N5245G · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.