ST.PETERSBURG, FL, USA
N1211A
PIPER PA-18
THE PILOT WAS ASSIGNED AN AIRCRAFT WITH A RECENTLY OVERHAULED ENGINE TO TOW A BANNER. HE PREFLIGHTED, STARTED AND RAN-UP THE ENGINE 3 TIMES. EACH TIME THE ENGINE RAN ROUGH AND LOST RPM ON MAGNETO CHECKS. AFTER EACH OCCURRENCE, COMPANYMAINTENANCE PERSONNEL CLEANED THE SPARKPLUGS AND RELEASED THE ACFT FOR FLIGHT. THE PILOT TEST FLEW THE ACFT AND STATED THAT IT PERFORMED NORMALLY. HE THEN LOWERED THE BANNER HOOK, DOVE DOWN TO ENGAGED THE BANNER AND STARTED TO CLIMB. THE ENGINE BEGAN TO RUN ROUGH AND LOST POWER. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO JETTISON THE BANNER TWICE & COULD NOT. HE THEN ATTEMPTED TO LAND ON AN INTERSECTING RUNWAY AND CRASHED. AN EXAM OF THE ENG REVEALED THAT THE SPARK PLUGS WERE OIL FOULED/WET. THE CYLINDERS OF THE ENG HAD JUST BEEN INSTALLED & THERE WAS NO RECORD OF AN ENG RUN-IN.
Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database
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