N8362M

On July 7, 2000, about 1600 Eastern Daylight Time, a Cessna 150, N8362M, was substantially damaged when it impacted the ground during a descent, near Freemont, Delaware. The certificated commercial pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the banner-towing flight, which was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.

In a written statement, the pilot stated,

"While dropping a banner, I always add power at 50 feet AGL in order to climb out. On this particular drop, when I was 50 feet above the ground, I proceeded to push the throttle in, but the plane did not accelerate. The plane then dropped from an altitude of about 40 feet AGL. I assume the banner hit the ground, causing me to fall. But I really do not know. The airplane then bounced about 15-20 feet in the air, and that's when I felt the power kick in and the plane began to accelerate. As the plane was on its way up after hitting the ground, I pulled the release ring, releasing the banner from the airplane.

After hitting, the plane was shaking, and was somewhat difficult to control. I decided to land the plane, and when I attempted to close the throttle in order to slow my airspeed, it didn't work. The throttle was stuck open at the amount of power I added while dropping, which was about 3/4 open. I could add full power, but I couldn't decrease power. Since I couldn't decrease power I decided to pull the mixture when I was on final, and land without power. I pulled the mixture, and nothing happened. On my last attempt at landing, I turned the magnetos off, which stopped the engine and I landed the plane. It was a very soft landing, and after the main gear touched down, the nose started to come down. It was at this point I realized that the nose gear was broken because the nose kept coming down. The propeller had stopped in a horizontal position, so it did not come in contact with the ground."

In a subsequent telephone interview, the pilot reported the weather was clear, with winds from the northwest at 10-12 knots. She stated that weather was not a factor in the accident. The pilot reported no abnormalities of the airplane or engine.

According to the NTSB Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, the pilot had accumulated 413 hours of total flight experience, 174 of which were in the make and model of the accident airplane.

Examination of the airplane by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed damage to the nose gear, the engine mounts, and the firewall. In addition, the throttle and mixture cables were jammed in the area of the firewall. No pre-impact malfunctions of the airplane or engine were observed.

The winds reported at 1554, at an airport 5 miles away, were from a heading of 010 degrees, at 10 knots, gusting to 15 knots.