Banner plane crashes not uncommon in Horry Co.

<p>A recent crash that killed two young pilots flying a banner-towing plane is one of a dozen such crashes in Horry County, national aviation officials say.</p><p>Nicholas Garrett, 23, of Dalton, Ga., and Ryan Bunker, 25, of American Fork, Utah, died Monday while either trying to pick up or after dropping off an advertising banner in a Piper Super Cub plane. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.</p><p>Fifteen banner-towing planes have crashed in Horry County since 1986 and most crashes occurred after a plane stalled, according to the NTSB.</p><p>"When you're a pilot, you accept this kind of thing," said Lep Boyd, who owns the aerial promotion company in Conway where the men worked. After the crash, Boyd met with other pilots who fly for Sky Signs.</p><p>Boyd said he thinks the plane stalled after dropping its banner and, because it was so near the ground, crashed before the men could correct the plane.</p><p>"Stalling unfortunately is quite common," he said. "We think there was nothing wrong with the plane."</p><p>In at least two other cases _ one in 1989 and one in 1990 _ pilots died after their planes stalled while picking up or dropping off banners, according to NTSB records. In a third fatal case in 1990, a pilot crashed into the ocean near North Myrtle Beach after his plane stalled.</p><p>Commercial pilots often come to Sky Signs during the summer to get experience towing banners. Boyd said they fly for his company because they can log many flight hours quickly in one tourist season and that experience helps when pursuing other jobs.</p><p>Bunker, who was in his second year with Sky Signs, was training Garrett to fly banners, Boyd said. Garrett was 10 hours shy of the 50 he needed to fly for the company, he said.</p><p>Before pilots can fly for Sky Signs, they must complete training that involves flying the Piper over a target area where a banner with a rope attached is spread out and ready to be carried.</p><p>The plane that crashed Monday was a 1954 two-seat, single engine fixed wing Piper PA-18-135, according to the FAA.</p><p>The Piper, a small plane in which two people sit one behind the other, is preferred for banner flying because "it has very good low speed handling characteristics," said Chris Dancy, spokesman for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association based in Frederick, Md.</p><p>Sky Signs owns eight Piper aircraft and leases another, owner Boyd said. The company has been in business for more than 12 years, according to its Web site and typically hires about 10 pilots each year who log 700 flight hours every spring and summer.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdbd40)</p>

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