- Date
- August 6, 1997, 16:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Mary Esther, FL
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N2427Cessna R172E
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 9, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19970806028259A
- Case key
- 38325
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
The loss of engine power for undetermined reasons.
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 pilot was conducting a banner towing flight when the engine lost power. He jettisoned the banner and attempted a forced landing on the beach. On touchdown the airplane's nose wheel dug into the sand, and nosed over. When the FAA examined the wreckage at the crash site they found 'no sign of fuel in the system,' but they attributed this to the fact that the airplane had been upside down, the wings and engine had been removed at the time of their investigation. An engine test run was performed, and no discrepancies were found.
Factual narrative
On August 6, 1997, about 1615 central daylight time, a Cessna R172E, N2427, registered to Boomer Aviation Inc., operating as a Title 14 CFR Part 91, local banner towing flight, crashed during a forced landing near Mary Esther, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane was substantially damaged. The commercial pilot was not injured. The flight had departed Navarre, Florida, at 1515.
The pilot reported that the engine had lost power while towing a banner. The banner was jettisoned and the pilot attempted a forced landing on the beach. On touchdown the airplane's nosewheel dug into the sand, and nosed over.
Examination of the wreckage by the FAA revealed that at the time of their inspection there was "no sign of fuel in the system," but that the airplane had been upside down, the wings and engine had been removed at the time of the FAA's inspection.
Examination of the fuel lines, carburetor, and fuel tanks did not reveal any discrepancies. An engine test run was performed on November, 21, 1997, at the facilities of Wiregrass Aviation, Florala, Alabama, under the supervision of the FAA. The engine run did not reveal any discrepancies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N2427
- Reported as
- Cessna R172E
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- R172-0235
- Airframe hours
- 8,492
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A1A, 180 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Other work use · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Boomer Aviation Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · July 2, 1997 · 143 hours before
- Departed
- 1J9 · Navarre, FL
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
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 736 total · 460 in this make and model · 662 as pilot in command · 401 in the last 90 days · 138 in the last 30 days · 7 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 6 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 90 °F, dew point 73 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.