Dragging ad banners may have contributed to death of young pilot
Posted June 21, 2010 11:35 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Piloting a small airplane dragging advertising banners involves dangerous manoeuvres and may have led to the death of a young Whitby, Ont., man near a north Toronto airport.
Andrew Archer, 23, died Sunday when he crashed into a parking lot near the Buttonville airport.
The Cessna 172 was owned by Skywords Inc, a Toronto-based company that offers “outdoor advertising solutions” to businesses, as well as airborne traffic reports.
Archer, described as an “avid pilot” by those at Buttonville airport where he worked for the past four years, was a 2009 graduate of Seneca College’s flight technology program.
Some members of the aviation community say aerial advertising is a low-paying, entry-level job that many young pilots like Archer choose in order to log the flying hours required for other positions.
However, due to the aggressive manoeuvring pilots must perform at a low altitude, the job is potentially quite dangerous.
“It is dangerous and complex, compared to any other flying there is,” says Syed Quadri, a 32-year-old pilot and general manager of the Aero Academy flight school in London, Ont.
“Everybody in this industry kind of knows that people going into these kinds of jobs are the young pilots with little experience than the average pilot in the industry. As you go on to become more experienced, you actually get into a safer environment where safety is more of a concern.”
Jeffrey Dignard, director of operations at Higher Power Aerial Advertising, said picking up and dropping off a typical advertising banner is “tricky.”
Since the plane cannot take off with the banner, it must make a few circuits after takeoff, then use a hook on its back to catch a rope attached to the banner between two poles on the runway.
After the plane is done, the pilot releases the banner onto the runway, being mindful not to release it onto other planes or areas outside the designated location.
It is only after the banner is dropped that the plane can land.
A Transportation Safety Board official said Archer’s aircraft had dropped its banner near the runway before it crashed.
Their investigation continues.
