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Pilot dies as banner-towing plane crashes in Camarillo
Piper PA-18 Super Cub noses over at the end of airport's runway
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Photo by Jason Redmond
A Ventura County firefighter stands next to the wreckage of a Piper PA-18 Super Cub that crashed about 9:30 a.m. Sunday at Camarillo Airport. The pilot, Marc Fiorini, 53, was killed.
Photo by Jason Redmond
A man stands near the crashed advertising banner plane, which was owned by Florida-based Van Wagner Aerial Media LLC.
Firefighters help with the removal of an ultralight aircraft that crashed in a field adjacent to Camarillo Airport about 4 p.m. Sunday. No injuries were reported.
Aviation accidents in Ventura County
Aug. 9, 2008: A Los Angeles man is injured when the World War II-replica kit plane he is flying loses power during its approach to Oxnard Airport, smashing through a 40-foot-high baseball backstop and crashing into a bus barn.
July 10, 2008: The pilot of a single-engine aircraft towing an advertising banner walks away unscathed after his aircraft flips in a Camarillo industrial park after it hits a mound of dirt during an emergency landing.
July 9, 2008: A single-engine plane lands upside-down on a hillside above a farm near Moorpark, causing minor injuries to the pilot and his passenger.
July 2, 2008: A Pacoima man is killed when the Cessna 152 airplane he is piloting crashes into a dirt embankment in a citrus orchard south of Fillmore.
Feb. 8, 2008: A twin-engine airplane crashes in a palm tree nursery west of Piru, and three people onboard are treated for minor injuries.
Sept. 4, 2007: A student pilot and his instructor suffer serious injuries when the single-engine plane they are flying goes down near a runway at Santa Paula Airport.
July 15, 2007: A Thousand Oaks man is killed when the vintage P-51D Mustang he is piloting flips near a runway at Camarillo Airport during landing.
April 24, 2007: A vintage T-28 Trojan Fennec makes a belly landing on the sand at Mandalay Beach Park in Oxnard. No one is injured.
Sept. 6, 2006: Two Southern California Edison employees die when their helicopter crashes north of Somis during an inspection of power lines.
July 1, 2006: Two members of a Santa Barbara family are killed and two others are injured when their single-engine plane crashes into a drainage ditch near a lemon grove in Somis.
May 27, 2006: A woman and a 2-year-old girl are injured when the sport utility vehicle in which they are riding on Victoria Avenue is struck by a plane whose pilot is attempting to make an emergency landing at Oxnard Airport. The pilot is also injured.
April 20, 2002: Two crew members are killed when their Navy QF-4 Phantom II jet crashes during a landing maneuver at the Point Mugu Air Show. No one on the ground is injured.
Jan. 31, 2000: Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashes near Anacapa Island, killing the 83 passengers and five crew members on board.
Feb. 13, 1991: A pilot and passenger are killed when their small stunt plane collides with a helicopter piloted by cartoon voice artist Noel Blanc, son of Mel Blanc, near Santa Paula Airport. Blanc and his passenger, actor Kirk Douglas, are injured.
— From staff reports
STORY TOOLS 
More from CamarilloA pilot died after the advertising banner plane he was flying crashed at Camarillo Airport on Sunday morning, according to the Federal Aviation Administration and local officials.
It was the second crash involving a banner-carrying plane in Ventura County in less than two months. Both crashes involved the same Piper planes owned by Van Wagner Aerial Media LLC.
The pilot was pronounced dead at the scene around 9:30 a.m., said Ventura County Sheriff's Department Capt. Frank O'Hanlon.
He was identified as Marc Fiorini, 53, who has ties to Florida, New Orleans and Mesa, Ariz., according to James Bernath of the Ventura County Medical Examiner-Coroner's Office. An autopsy was scheduled today.
"He was maneuvering to pick up the banner when for unknown causes, the plane impacted the ground," O'Hanlon said.
The pilot of the Piper Super Cub was "trying to pick up an aerial advertising banner ... when the plane nosed over at the end" of the runway, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Ian Gregor said in a statement. "Unfortunately, the pilot died."
The plane crash is being investigated by the FAA, and the National Transportation Safety Board is aware of the crash.
Under FAA rules, planes towing banners are barred from carrying passengers. No one was injured on the ground.
According to FAA records, the plane is a Piper PA-18 Super Cub built in 1957. It is registered to Van Wagner, which operates out of Camarillo Airport but has headquarters in Hollywood, Fla.
"This is a very tragic day in our company's history. We're just trying to get through," said Brian Broderson, vice president of Van Wagner, one of the leading aerial advertising businesses in the country.
Sunday's fatality follows a July 10 crash in which a Piper PA-18 flipped over during an emergency landing in an industrial park in Camarillo but the pilot walked away without injuries.
Robin Stephens, a Camarillo resident, saw Sunday's plane crash.
"He got the banner off the ground, pulled it up, I heard a big pop and the engine went silent," Stephens said. "Then it just came down."
There was no smoke, just a lot of dust when the plane hit the ground, she said.
Stephens is assistant manager of Golden State Self Storage, a business on Ventura Boulevard. She sees and hears planes take off and land all the time. She said the plane looked just like the one that crashed in July.
"I think this company needs to update their planes," Stephens said.
Stephens saw a first emergency responder run out to the plane after it crashed. He looked inside and walked away, shaking his head, she said.
The Piper plane was modified for carrying banners, said Capt. Pete Jensen of the Ventura County Fire Department.
Jensen said there was no fire but a small fuel leak brought out the hazardous materials team. Dozens of emergency responders in nine units responded to the crash, including an air squad helicopter, two fire engines, an ambulance and a ladder truck. The scene was mostly cleared by 3 p.m.
The single-engine fixed-wing plane crashed on the infield area to the east of the airport on the grass, where planes pick up the banners. The plane crashed nose-first with its tail in the air. The banner was still connected to the plane, and police tape surrounded the crash site, within view of Las Posas Road.
Later, around 4 p.m., an ultralight aircraft made an emergency landing in a nearby field west of Camarillo Airport, near Wood and Pleasant Valley roads. No injuries were reported.
According to NTSB records, about 11 banner planes have crashed in California since 1983, with three fatalities. In 2007, 195 airplane accidents occurred in California, according to NTSB records.
Camarillo Airport Manager Aaron Walsh said after the July crash that Van Wagner hires its own pilots, operates under an airport activity permit and pays rent to the airport for aircraft storage.
"They're their own business. We just collect the rent," Walsh said. "They've been a good tenant here with us."
A pilot can either take off with a banner already in tow, or can take off and then snag a banner resting on the ground, according to FAA rules for banner towing. The FAA requires the operator of a banner plane to apply for a certification of waiver and provide a list of its pilots certified to fly banner planes.
Bob Young and Felicia Ciano of Los Angeles saw the mangled plane near the runway as they were landing their small plane around 10 a.m.
"You could just tell when we were flying over that it was pretty bad," Ciano said, sitting at the Way-Point Cafe.
"I didn't want to look that close."
Posted by Just_wondering on September 1, 2008 at 7:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The FAA need to ban the practice of flying banners. It is obviously dangerous (didn't they just come out with a report saying it was safe?) and it distracts people from driving. I wouldn't think it was a good marketing tool anyway as you can almost never see what the banner says.
Posted by handyhood on September 1, 2008 at 8:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Flying is actually safer than driving statistics have shown, however, you can't pull over and stop. What goes up, will come down!
Posted by cowchip on September 1, 2008 at 8:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm so sorry to hear that someone had to die, but I gotta say...these banner planes are really annoying to constantly see flying over Camarillo. I have to wonder how effective this method of advertising is. After seeing the planes for the first few times I think people tend to just ignore what the banners say.
Posted by Just_wondering on September 1, 2008 at 8:58 a.m. (Suggest removal)
yes, flying is safer, but I doubt those statistics are looking at planes flying banners.
Posted by wynonarose on September 1, 2008 at 9:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Agree that banner planes are distracting and hard to read. Would think a radio ad would be safer/easier/cheaper/more effective.
Marc was just trying to make a living. Rest in peace!
Posted by julsthemom on September 1, 2008 at 9:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
My heartfelt sympathies to the family. It is only a matter of time before one of these banner carrying planes crashes into homes, schools or businesses in Camarillo
Posted by rebel123 on September 1, 2008 at 9:36 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The "flying is safer than driving" statistic is a red herring. Sure, statistically it's safer, but you put as many people in the air as you have on the ground in cars and I think that stat may change. There is also a much higher chance of surviving a car wreck than a plane wreck.
Posted by handyhood on September 1, 2008 at 10:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Out of the 14 aircraft crashes in Ventura County since 1991, a death occurred in eight of them. This means that a little over 50% of these disasters resulted with a fatality. We aren't going to stop people from flying and statistically speaking it is safer than ever before to fly due to better performance in the aircraft industry and aircraft. If you have never flown, then you can not understand what it is that make these people take to the air. This mans death is sad, yet he died doing what he loved to do. I hope when I die, I will be able to say the same thing!
Posted by THX1138 on September 1, 2008 at 11:31 a.m. (Suggest removal)
As mentioned in the article yesterday; perhaps the FAA needs to tighten restrictions on banner operators.
I would guess there's not much of a profit margin in this line of work so flying a high performance aircraft isn't always an option. However the FAA should have regulations to increase the margin of safety, [ie specify minimum engine hp & stall speed]. So even if the pilot makes an error he has a better chance of recovery.
My condolences to the family...
Posted by 805m0mma on September 1, 2008 at 12:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It was very disturbing to see this plane go down. My family witnessed it while we were just sitting down to eat breakfast @ Airport Cafe. My little one keeps talking about it. My thoughts and prayers are with Mr.Fiorini's Family.
Posted by handyhood on September 1, 2008 at 2:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Legal_American- Out of the 14 airplane crashes since 1991, not ONE has been near any residential area! The small aircraft airports in this County used to be out away from any residential areas. It is the homes that are encroaching on the airports, not the other way around. If we stopped aircraft from flying over residential areas, then there would be NO flights of any kind at all! Think before you post!
Posted by julsthemom on September 1, 2008 at 4:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
handyhood...think your missing the point here. These planes fly over my house daily...my house was here when I bought it and built in 1972. I don't think that anyone is saying STOP ALL AIRCRAFT...just unnecessary advertising. I've never run out to Outback just because I've seen the banner.
Posted by SoCalGuy on September 1, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
handyhood -- Thanks for your well thought-out post, it's good to see there's still intelligent life among some of the Star readers.
Posted by kcody on September 1, 2008 at 8:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The guy who flies that green ultralight is jerk. Constantly buzzing swimmers and people at the beach. I'm glad he crashed. He breaks soo many laws, constantly.
Posted by handyhood on September 1, 2008 at 9:31 p.m. (Suggest removal)
julsthemom- How can you buy a house and then build? This is what you said! Camarillo airport has been there since the Late 40s early 50s. I live in Oxnard under the landing glide path, however, the airport was there first. It was here long before me, and the Camarillo airport was there long before YOU! If you don't like it, MOVE! Think before you post!
SoCalGuy- Thank you, thank you very much.
To everyone- any (crash) you can walk away from is just an uncontrolled landing!
Posted by NavalAviator on September 1, 2008 at 9:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
r.gyurkovitz to answer your question from before. I did not see the accident. But if he was going after a banner, he was likely less than 50 feet.
You can bet he was trying to keep the nose of the a/c up. You can bet that he was pulling back for all he was worth to get the nose up. But as is said in aviation, "he ran out of altitude and airspeed at the sametime." When you stall, the nose falls through. Stall = no lift being generated by the wing. Because of no lift being generated, the aircraft is nose heavy due to the engine location; down you go nose first. Note the photos, he hit nose first.
"If you want to go up, pull your nose up. If you want to go down, pull it up a little more."
Posted by ridsbabe on September 2, 2008 at 5:34 p.m. (Suggest removal)
just drove past the Cam airport...about 4:45 (Sept 2) and there was another small plane upside down near the fence at Las Posas, inside the airport fence...crazy! Not sure if it was a banner plane but looked about the right size! There were several fire trucks there already and some just arriving.
Posted by goaliegirl69 on September 3, 2008 at 11:23 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This post is directed at djfrostsf:
I hope that your writings are not a reflection on the manners of Van Wagner Arial Media.
If safety might be an issue, then the pilots AND the company should be making every effort possible to fix a deadly problem.
Posted by StevePierce on September 4, 2008 at 3:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Ban everything that is dangerous. God forbid we should hurt ourselves. I think commercials on TV and big trucks are annoying, ban them to.
Posted by StevePierce on September 4, 2008 at 3:45 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You never know when a car will come through your living room. I wonder how many houses were around the airport when it was built?
Posted by Grant on September 5, 2008 at 2:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey guys, How is it that the Government should ban something just cause it bothers you. Those of you that say it's distracting obviously looked at it so it is a good form of advertising. Those who think the FAA should regulate this type of activity should get informed before you post. The FAA does and always has regulated this type of operation. Do you really think its some idiot up there with a rope and a sign hanging off his airplane? Not hardly. These guys are highly trained and accidents happen.
Like Stevepierce said, maybe we should ban 18 wheelers too. they are involved in accidents every day.
Posted by imgesing on September 22, 2008 at 1:25 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Just so anyone here who makes an erroneous comment without experience listen up. First of all, I knew MARK. He was an excellent pilot and amazing person! The type of guy who stands out because he was unassuming and warm. This was a very educated person and knowledgable pilot!
In fact, we discussed banner tow, and he knew it was with risks as I am fortunate to have lived thru the experience myself. I had a VERY similar experience happen to me and to this day I don't know how I was able to land the plane, let alone live.
This is one of the most tragic news I have heard in a long time. Banner tow is the second MOST DANGEROUS flying after crop dusting. Any pilot who is even considering banner tow to build flight time, is strongly urged by me to reconsider! Low and Slow kills! The pay sucks and ask your self if this form of flying is "potentially" worth risking your life for.
To MARK's Friends and FAMILY, I share your loss. I can not believe this news! It is very very tragic that one of the best guys I have met in my life, let alone as a pilot is now gone.
((( please, if you have a comment, get educated prior to posting your feelings. Especially when there is such a big loss))) G.E.S.
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