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NYC89LA147

1989-06-10 · ERMA, New Jersey, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Current FAA registration · N46286

Make / Model
PIPER J3C-65
Year of manufacture
1942 · 47 years old at event
Engine
LYCOMING 0-235 SERIES (115 hp)
Seats / Engines
2 seats · 1 engine
Last airworthiness date
19700901
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A5A498

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO MAINTAIN AIRSPEED DURING A BANNER PICKUP.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS UNDER TRAINING FOR A BANNER TOWING LETTER OF AUTHORIZATION AND WAS PRACTICING PICKUPS OF FULL SIZE BANNERS. AFTER PICKUP, AND AT AN ALTITUDE OF 250 FEET, THE AIRPLANE STALLED AND DESCENDED INTO THE TREES. THE PILOT STATED THAT THE PICKUP WAS O.K., BUT THE WINDS WERE GUSTY AND IT WAS A HOT DAY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1989_NYC89LA147.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, stall). All research papers