NTSB CAROL · Event
Event NYC95LA179
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilot's improper inflight decision and inaccurate fuel consumption calculations, resulting in a loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion and a forced landing over unsuitable terrain.
Factual narrative
On July 30, 1995, at 1630 eastern daylight time, a Bellanca 7GCBC, N8610V, operated by United Aerial Advertising, Inc., sustained substantial damage when it collided with a tree during a forced landing, approximately 300 yards from the Allaire Airport, Farmingdale, New Jersey. The airline transport pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the banner towing flight, which departed East Moriches, New York, at 1330. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. In the NTSB form 6120.1/2, the pilot stated: ...The aircraft felt sluggish throughout the flight so I expressed my concern about fuel consumption to Don...to which he replied if you want to turn in,...but you can't be running out of fuel we have only been up here 1 1/2 hours. I relied on his experience, and on the fact that I was sure I had two hours of fuel left. I reached [Farmingdale] at approximately 1610, dropped the banner...[and] applied full power to go around for landing and lost the engine....I proceeded into a large field...which was surrounded by trees....The left wing hit some branches at the tree line, and shortly thereafter hit the ground.... Postaccident examination by the Federal Aviation Administration Inspector revealed no discrepancies with the engine or airframe. Additionally, three quarts of fuel was drained from the entire fuel system. THE PILOT HAD BEEN CONDUCTING A BANNER TOWING FLIGHT, AND WAS CONCERNED ABOUT THE AMOUNT OF FUEL REMAINING; HOWEVER, THE PILOT DECIDED TO CONTINUE THE FLIGHT. UPON COMPLETION OF THE BANNER TOWING OPERATIONS, THE PILOT RETURNED TO ALLAIRE AIRPORT, DROPPED THE BANNER AND APPLIED POWER TO GO-AROUND FOR LANDING AND LOST TOTAL ENGINE POWER. THE AIRPLANE COLLIDED WITH TREES DURING THE FORCED LANDING. POSTACCIDENT EXAMINATION BY AN FAA INSPECTOR REVEALED NO DISCREPANCIES WITH THE AIRFRAME OR ENGINE. ADDITIONALLY, THREE QUARTS OF FUEL WERE DRAINED FROM THE ENTIRE FUEL SYSTEM. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1995_NYC95LA179.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (fuel exhaustion, go-around). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- NASA NTRS 2025 · Conference Paper
A Training Study to Improve Monitoring During A Go-Around
As part of an FAA program to improve go-around (GA) safety, we were asked to determine if we could improve the performance of the Pilot Monitoring (PM) during a GA maneuver.
- Flight Safety Foundation 2024 · FSF / AeroSafety World
Go-Around Safety Forum Findings
Foundation Go-Around Safety Forum technical findings — examines why pilots fail to execute go-arounds when criteria are met (stabilized approach gate not met, energy state out of envelope, traffic con…
- Semantic Scholar 2022 · Article (Journal of Safety Research)
Go-around accidents and general aviation safety.
INTRODUCTION Changes in General Aviation (GA) accident rates, specifically in the go-around phase, are examined by comparing the number of accidents, the proportion of fatal accidents, and the proport…
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aerospace)
Classification and Analysis of Go-Arounds in Commercial Aviation Using ADS-B Data
Go-arounds are a necessary aspect of commercial aviation and are conducted after a landing attempt has been aborted. It is necessary to conduct go-arounds in the safest possible manner, as go-arounds …
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Accepted Manuscript (Version with final changes)
Go-Around Criteria Refinement for Transport Category Aircraft
Presently, airline pilots are trained to go around if, when lower than 500 ft above the ground, they are outside of a handful of parameters such as airspeed, position, and rate of descent.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Conference Paper
Validation of Proposed Go-Around Criteria Under Various Environmental Conditions
This paper evaluates the effects of environmental conditions on touchdown performance under varying approach states and validates proposed go-around criteria developed using data from a previously con…
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