- Date
- August 15, 1998, 09:55 local (13:55 UTC)
- Place
- Conway, SC
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N3981ZPiper PA-18-150
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report April 19, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 19980815020949A
- Case key
- 43698
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 total failure of the left wing forward and aft attachment fitting due to corrosion and fatigue during a banner tow pick-up resulting in a subsequent in-flight collision with terrain.
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 attempting a banner tow pick up when the left wing collapsed. Examination of the left wing forward and aft attachment fitting by the NTSB Materials Laboratory revealed the failure of the brackets due to corrosion and fatigue.
Factual narrative
On August 15, 1998, about 0955 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-18-150, N3981Z, registered to Sky Signs Inc., operating as a 14 CFR Part 91 banner tow flight, crashed while attempting a banner tow pick-up at the Sky Signs private airstrip, Conway, South Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The commercial pilot reported minor injuries. The flight originated about 5 minutes before the accident.
An FAA inspector who observed the accident stated the pilot was picking up a banner on runway 34. The airplane picked up the banner and was in about a 30-degree nose-up attitude when the left wing collapsed. The airplane rolled to the right about 300 degrees, the nose pitched down, and the airplane collided with the ground inverted. Examination of the left wing revealed the left forward lift strut attachment fitting was severely corroded.
The separated left wing forward and aft strut attachment fitting, and the right wing forward and aft attachment fitting were sent to the NTSB Materials Laboratory for analysis. Examination revealed the front face of the forward bracket was subjected to severe corrosion damage. The bracket separated approximately 2.8 inches away from its inboard lower end, at a location corresponding to a vertical position on assembly that is in line with or just below the lower spar cap of the forward spar. Evidence of corrosion was also apparent on the upper and lower sides of the bracket. Binocular microscope examination revealed that the most corrosion damage was on the front face of the bracket. Examination of the aft bracket revealed that it separated through the lower of the five holes used to attach the bracket to the front spar. Binocular microscope examination revealed that a portion of the aft bracket fracture was on a flat plane and contained crack arrest positions typical of fatigue cracking. (For additional information see NTSB Materials Laboratory Factual Report No. 99-49.)
The components retained for further analysis were released to M. Jenkins, Sky Signs Inc., on February 12, 1999.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3981Z
- Reported as
- Piper PA-18-150
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18-7924
- Airframe hours
- 9,731
- Engine
- Lycoming O-360-A4M, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 91
- Registered owner
- Sky Signs Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Restricted (Special)
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · August 5, 1998 · 50 hours before
- Departed
- NONE
- Airport
- runway 34, 1,800 × 100 ft, grass/turf
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
- 26
- Certificates
- Commercial, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Front
- Flight hours
- 1,050 total · 700 in this make and model · 500 in the last 90 days · 200 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 20° at 6 knots
- Visibility
- 4 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 15,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 75 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MYR
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 N3981Z · 2
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.