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NYC92LA162

1992-08-12 · OCEAN CITY, New Jersey, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport 26N

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE AIRPLANE NOSING OVER ON LANDING ROLL DUE TO INADEQUATE AIRPLANE HANDLING CHARACTERISTICS WHILE LANDING WITH THE BANNER ATTACHED. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE USE OF ROPE INSTEAD OF STEEL CABLE, THE MAIN LANDING GEAR MOUNTED TOW HITCH, AND THE CROSSWIND.

Factual narrative

DURING BANNER PICKUP THE TOW ROPE BECAME WRAPPED AROUND THE RELEASE HOOK AND THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO RELEASE THE BANNER UPON THE COMPLETION OF THE FLIGHT. LANDING WITH A RIGHT CROSSWIND AND THE BANNER STILL ATTACHED, THE PILOT WAS UNABLE TO CONTROL THE DIRECTION OF THE AIRPLANE AS HE SLOWED, AND THE AIRPLANE DEPARTED THE RUNWAY TO THE LEFT SIDE, AND NOSED OVER. THE BANNER ATTACH POINT WAS A HOOK ON THE END OF A ROD, WHICH WAS ATTACHED TO THE MAIN LANDING GEAR, WHICH IS FORWARD OF THE CENTER OF GRAVITY. THIS MADE DIRECTIONAL CONTROL VERY DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE AS THE AIRPLANE SLOWED. ACCORDING TO AN FAA INSPECTOR FAMILIAR WITH BANNER TOWING, ROPE IS MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO TWISTING AROUND THE RELEASE HOOK THAN METAL CABLES. IN ADDITION, HE SAID THAT TAILWHEEL MOUNTED TOW HITCHES ARE SAFER THAN THOSE MOUNTED ON THE MAIN LANDING GEAR. ADDITIONAL INTERVIEWS DISCLOSED BOTH TOW HITCH SYSTEMS AND ROPE ARE IN COMMON USE FOR BANNER TOWING. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_NYC92LA162.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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