Piper PA12 accident near Middle Township, NJ
On July 16, 2022, a Piper PA12 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Middle Township, NJ. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- July 16, 2022
- Place
- Middle Township, NJ
- Aircraft
- Piper PA12 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 39.065°N, 74.909°W
- NTSB ID
- 20220716105485
Official records · ERA22FA315
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn July 16, 2022, about 0935 eastern daylight time, a Piper PA-12, N3703M, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Middle Township, New Jersey. The commercial pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 banner-tow flight. According to the operator, who witnessed the accident, the pilot was hired about 2 months before the accident. The airplane was fueled to capacity before to the flight. On the accident flight, the pilot departed runway 32 and flew a left traffic pattern to pick up the banner at the approach end of runway 14, which was normal procedure. The airplane descended toward the banner, but missed the haul line during the pickup attempt. The airplane then climbed nose-high and stalled, spinning right and impacting the runway. Engine noise was consistent throughout the accident sequence. Another witness stated that he was seated in an airplane, with the engine running, waiting to take off next and pick up a banner. He observed the accident airplane come down between the poles, miss the banner, and the accident pilot made a really “hard snap,” climbing almost vertically. It looked to the witness as though the accident pilot "kicked rudder" at the top of his climb to see if he had picked up the banner. The witness added that he believed this caused the right wing to come out from the slipstream, resulting in an aerodynamic stall. WRECKAGE AND IMPACT INFORMATIONThe wreckage came to rest nose-down, oriented about a 320° magnetic heading, and no debris path was observed.
Probable cause
The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during a missed banner pickup, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin and loss of control at an altitude too low to recover.
More accidents in NJ
- Piper PA-32R-300, Aug 8, 2009
- Bell 206L-4, Apr 10, 2025
- Socata TBM 700, Dec 20, 2011
- Cessna T337G, Feb 15, 2010
- Piper PA-28-236, May 31, 2006
Browse: New Jersey · Piper aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
