NYC98LA181

The pilot was returning to land from his third banner flight of the day, and was towing a 25x75 foot banner. He made two attempts to release his banner, but both attempts failed, so he elected to land the airplane with the banner in tow. The pilot made a straight-in approach for the 3,539 foot long runway 14, and in an attempt to have the airplane touch down before the banner, he executed the approach steeper and faster than normal, but not as fast as he would have liked, because he wanted to get the airplane stopped before reaching an intersecting runway. By stopping before the intersecting runway, the pilot would prevent blocking it while he cleared the banner and airplane from the landing runway. When the airplane was over the runway and approximately 20 feet above the ground, the banner became snagged. The pilot applied full power, but the airplane stalled, and impacted the runway.

On September 5, 1998, about 1610 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 305A, N5245G, was substantially damaged during landing at Bowman Field Airport (LOU), Louisville, Kentucky. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed for the commercial banner tow flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

The pilot stated that he was returning to land from his third banner flight of the day, and was towing a 25x75 foot banner. He made two attempts to release his banner, but both attempts failed.

Since the pilot could not release the banner, he elected to land the airplane with the banner in tow, something he had done about a dozen times before. He coordinated with the tower, and after about 10 minutes was cleared to land on Runway 14. The active was Runway 6, but the winds were negligible and the pilot wanted to avoid occupying the primary runway.

The pilot stated that he made a straight in approach for Runway 14, and in an attempt to have the airplane touchdown before the banner, he made the approach steeper and faster than "normal", but not as fast as he would have liked. He maintained a slightly slower approach speed because he wanted to get the airplane stopped before reaching the intersection of Runway 14 and Runway 6. His goal was to avoid blocking Runway 6 because it was the primary runway, and he knew it would take several minutes to clear the banner and airplane from Runway 14 after coming to a stop.

When the airplane was over the runway and approximately 20 feet above the ground, the pilot felt the banner snag and the subsequent stretching of the nylon tow rope. Immediately upon feeling the deceleration, the pilot applied full power, but the airplane stalled and nosed down. When the airplane impacted the runway, the propeller made momentary contact with the ground and the right landing gear collapsed. The airplane bounced back into the air briefly then settled onto the runway. After settling back onto the runway, the airplane skidded 30-50 feet before it came to rest with its engine still running.

According to the pilot, banner attached landings require a steeper and faster approach then normal to prevent the banner from becoming snagged while the airplane is still airborne. In the past, when the pilot conducted banner attached landings, he thought he was able to get the airplane on the ground prior to the banner. After the accident he was informed by a witness that on several occasions, during past banner landings, the banner made ground contact first.