History of Flight
On December 31, 2011, about 1111 eastern standard time, a Piper PA-25-235, N7048Z, was substantially damaged when it impacted a parking lot and came to rest against a parked vehicle near Jacksonville, Florida. The airplane was operated by Flying Weaners Inc and had departed from the Craig Municipal Airport (CRG) for a local banner tow flight under day visual meteorological conditions. The commercial pilot was fatally injured.
According to a written statement by company ground personnel, the pilot attempted to pick up the banner between two pick up poles parallel to runway 23. The airplane was low, and the pilot pitched up about 10 feet prior to the banner poles. On the second attempt, the pilot successfully picked up the banner. The climb out initially appeared normal but then seemed slow. The rudder reached approximately full deflection to the right, followed by the banner release. The airplane then snapped and started to spin to the right, about 300 feet above ground level.
Personnel Information
The pilot held a commercial pilot certificate for airplane single-engine land and instrument airplane, as well as private pilot privileges for airplane multiengine land. His most recent logbook entry showed 2,177.8 total hours of flight experience, with 873.9 hours in the accident aircraft. Since November 11, 2011, he had accrued 64.3 hours in the accident airplane. The pilot's most recent flight review was on March 9, 2010, and his tailwheel endorsement was completed on March 19, 2010. He received a high-performance endorsement on March 4, 2011. Company records showed he completed 6.3 hours of banner tow training on February 28, 2011, including full stall recovery and emergency procedures.
Aircraft Information
The Piper PA-25-235, serial number unknown, was issued an airworthiness certificate on April 22, 1964, and registered to the owner on July 12, 2009. At the time of the accident, it had 6,386.40 total flight hours. The Lycoming O-540-B2C5 engine had 1,849.4 hours since major overhaul, which was performed on March 21, 2003.
Meteorological Information
The 1128 recorded weather observation at CRG included wind from 240 degrees at 11 knots, visibility 10 miles, few clouds at 2,800 feet agl, temperature 22°C, dew point 14°C, and barometric altimeter 30.17 inches of mercury.
Wreckage and Impact Information
The airplane came to rest upright in a parking lot on a heading of 172 degrees, nose down, with the tail resting on a parked car. The banner was located on airport property about 775 feet from the main wreckage. All flight control surfaces remained attached. The propeller was impact separated, with one blade missing about 14 inches of its outboard section. The fuselage exhibited numerous impact marks along the forward underside. The fuel tank was breached and devoid of fuel. A bladder-style fuel tank was found in the hopper, installed with non-aviation approved hoses and a non-FAA approved fuel pump; it was listed as a ferry fuel tank in the maintenance logs. The instrument panel included a red STALL indicator light that was illuminated before first responders turned off the master and magneto switches. Control continuity was established for all flight controls. The right aileron exhibited tensile overload at the fuselage wall. The left rudder cable showed broomstrawing. The mixture control was bent, impeding throttle travel, and was found in the full rich position; the throttle appeared in the idle position. The trim was set slight nose up.
Medical and Pathological Information
An autopsy performed on January 2, 2012, listed the cause of death as blunt head trauma. Forensic toxicology detected tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound in marijuana, in the lung (0.2756 ug/ml), kidney (0.0205 ug/ml), and blood (0.0166 ug/ml). THC-COOH, a metabolite, was detected in urine, kidney, lung, and blood. Moderate-to-severe cardiomyopathy was noted, but there was no evidence it was diagnosed before or contributed to the accident.
Additional Information
Fuel records indicated the airplane was fueled with 40.1 total gallons, with 20 gallons of 100LL added to the bladder tank and the main tank topped off. Security camera video captured the initial climb out, the airplane and banner climbing above the frame, the banner descending after release, and approximately 5 seconds later, the airplane in a right-hand spin impacting the ground nose down.