By Robert N. Rossier, EAA 472091
This piece originally ran in Robert’s Stick and Rudder column in the March 2024 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
Last summer I had the opportunity to relearn a lesson I had learned a long time ago. The situation involved a close call (not really that close, but unnerving nonetheless) that occurred when I was departing the airport.
Preparing for departure, I followed two Pawnee banner towplanes out to the favored runway for departure, which was Runway 14. The banner tow pilots were intending to depart Runway 14 and then “loop around” to Runway 25 to pick up their banners located on the south side of that runway.
I fully expected that the banner tows would not interfere with a third departure right behind them, that they would instead maneuver and time their pickup to avoid any conflicts. As it turns out, this — like many other assumptions — was incorrect. I can only assume that the Pawnee pilots assumed — also incorrectly — that I would not depart but would wait for them to pick up their banners before I attempted to take off. Surprise!
Shortly after rotation, I glimpsed the first of the two Pawnees already on a steep, low approach to Runway 25. Fortunately, the pilot saw me and maneuvered to avoid any problems. But the incident could have turned out much differently.
Clearly, we all could have done things differently to improve the safety of the operation. Above all is communication. I should have more clearly communicated that I intended to follow directly behind the two Pawnees, which would have given them the opportunity to change their plan or request that I change mine. On the Pawnee pilots’ part, using standard phraseology rather than “looping around” might have created a more informed picture of their intentions. It’s not so much a matter of who was right and who was wrong, as it is clearly communicating our intentions and avoiding assumptions.
At the coaching of a fellow pilot, I decided to write an Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS, aka NASA report) to disclose this event. For those not familiar, the ASRS, administered by NASA, is a voluntary safety reporting system that receives safety reports from pilots, controllers, maintenance technicians, drone operators, and others via a simple, online form. It’s been around for some 45 years, collecting more than 1.7 million reports.
Pilots reporting safety incidents via ASRS can avoid violations as long as no criminal activity occurred as part of the event. Reports are scrubbed by ASRS safety analysts, and the resulting anonymous safety data is shared via free online articles and a searchable database.
Writing an ASRS report offers another benefit as well. Taking the time to reflect on an incident and write a report can help us become more introspective in our flight operations and decision-making. In the heat of the moment, it’s easy to point the finger at others for causing a conflict in the air. It happens all the time. I’ve even heard heated exchanges between pilots on the radio when one thinks another has cut them off or made a bad move in the pattern. But such exchanges seldom result in a positive outcome.
We learn much more by writing down in detail what occurred and what we thought or were doing at the time of the incident. The hope is that we find ways to improve our decision-making and operating procedures to lessen the risk of similar future events. An ASRS report allows us to more objectively assess what happened and puts the incident out there for others to learn from.
A Mixed Bag
Operations at non-tower-controlled airports can be complicated, especially when we have pilots conducting a wide variety of operations. When we mix VFR, IFR, training, banner towing, skydiving, and operations with non-radio-equipped aircraft, the challenges of understanding the intentions of other pilots can be difficult to overcome.
A broad mix of pilot experience from student pilots to ATPs can also contribute to a lack of understanding. However, if we take a step back from our respective flying world to see what others are up to, we might begin to understand what others are doing (and maybe even why).
Fatal Maneuver
A couple decades ago, a pilot friend of mine and two passengers were killed in an airplane crash that might have also involved a banner tow operation. According to the NTSB report, the pilot of a Piper Cherokee Six and four passengers had departed Runway 07 at KWST when the situation turned deadly.
A surviving passenger reported that the pilot made a slow right turn after takeoff. Shortly thereafter, the pilot put both hands on the yoke and banked the airplane about 90 degrees to the left. The aircraft then descended and crashed in an open field some 200 feet beyond and to the left of Runway 07.
The NTSB report also revealed that a banner tow pilot was communicating with the Cherokee pilot just before the accident. The banner tow pilot was returning for a banner drop and headed roughly in the opposite direction as the Cherokee. According to the report, the Cherokee pilot announced departing Runway 07. The banner tow pilot announced his location inbound just a couple miles away, stating he would enter the crosswind, presumably for Runway 07.
The pilots both acknowledged having each other in sight. Moments later, the tow plane was on crosswind, perpendicular to the runway, at about 1,000 feet. When the tow pilot saw the Cherokee, it was about a half-mile away. We would expect that both pilots would alter course as needed to avoid a collision. So, the question remains: Why did the Cherokee pilot suddenly make a steep left turn in which he presumably lost control of the aircraft?
Another clue from the report is the tow pilot’s statement that the banner would “not droop any less than 100 feet below the airplane towing it.” So, while the Cherokee pilot might have seen the towplane and recognized it was above him, it might have been a split second or more before he saw the banner, the orientation of which might have made it difficult to see. Might the sudden appearance of the banner close to his position have caused the Cherokee pilot to perform the steep left turn? We’ll likely never know the answer.
Exercising Caution
Risk avoidance is one strategy each of us can focus on in order to improve the safety of our flight operations. At times, it might serve us to sit and wait for a potential safety risk to resolve before we push the throttles forward. This might mean a few minutes delay to our flight, but those few minutes are a small price to pay for avoiding what could be a disastrous situation.
Operations such as banner towing can present unanticipated maneuvers, and we need to recognize the potential risk of events not playing out the way we expect. In situations like this, we can always choose to wait it out on the sidelines rather than get tangled up in the fray.
When unsafe events occur, we can benefit ourselves and others by writing up the incident and submitting it to the ASRS. An objective review of what happened and evaluation of how the problem might have been avoided can help promote better decisions.
By sharing such stories through the ASRS or this publication, we bring awareness that can help others avoid unsafe situations.
Robert N. Rossier, EAA 472091, has been flying for more than 40 years and has worked as a flight instructor, commercial pilot, chief pilot, and FAA flight check airman.