Pilot at fault in deadly 2022 banner plane crash in North Myrtle Beach, report says
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The National Transportation Board says the actions of the pilot of a Piper PA-12 banner plane killed in a 2022 crash in North Myrtle Beach led the aircraft to stall and crash, according to a final report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
David Flading, 56, died in the crash of the Piper-PA12, which was registered to Barnstormers Aerial Advertising LLC. He had more than 15,000 hours of flying time in the type of plane that crashed, the report said.
“The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack … resulted in a subsequent aerodynamic stall at an altitude that was too low for recovery,” the NTSB report said.
The crash happened at about 2:15 p.m. on May 28, 2022, at Grand Strand Airport. The report said the plane picked up a tow rope with a banner attached and then “pitched up and maintained a steep angle of attack until it entered an aerodynamic stall and made a near verticle descent to impact.” It crashed about 300 feet from the banner pickup zone.
The report also found that there was no evidence of any mechanical malfunction of the aircraft.
A preliminary report released in June 2022 said both propeller blades were damaged and both fuel tanks were breached in the crash. All of the plane instruments were damaged in the crash.
The full report from the NTSB is below.
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Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
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