PIPER PA-25-235 — Hollywood, FL

What happened

The accident occurred during a banner tow flight. The company’s ground operations director described the engine sound throughout the banner pick up, climb, and “verification” phases of the flight as normal. He heard the airport tower controller state that the airplane was not climbing and ask the pilot if he was “okay.” The pilot answered affirmatively and assured the controller he was “starting to climb.” The director then noticed the airplane was not climbing and he unsuccessfully tried to contact the pilot. The director stated the airplane’s nose-high pitch attitude was “more than needed and preventing him from climbing.” He stated the pilot then reported to air traffic control that he was at 400 ft, and he needed to drop the banner.

Radar data showed that, over the last 4 minutes of the flight, the airplane was operating between 400 and 600 ft at about 55 knots (kts); there was an 11-kt tailwind. Recorded video depicted the airplane in the final seconds of the flight in a wings-level, nose-high attitude at low altitude, near rooftop height. The moment the banner was released, the airplane rolled and yawed right before the wings leveled and it descended vertically in a nose-up attitude. The airplane then rolled left and entered a steep, nose-down, left spiraling descent out of the camera’s view. Low resolution surveillance video captured the banner release, the right and left rolls, and then the spiraled, vertical, nose-down descent. The airplane continued to descend until it impacted a street, where the airplane came to rest and subsequently caught fire.

The commercial pilot was recently hired by the banner tow operator, and had completed his ground training and accrued 15 hours of flight experience in the accident airplane make and model before departing on the accident flight.

Examination of the airplane revealed no preimpact mechanical anomalies. Witness accounts and video evidence suggested that the airplane was operating in the region of reverse command and that the power required to climb with the increased drag of the banner exceeded the power available at its pitch attitude. It is likely that lowering the airplane’s nose to reduce its angle of attack, while the proper technique, was counterintuitive to the pilot at such a low altitude.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.