- Date
- February 27, 2022, 17:00 local (23:00 UTC)
- Place
- Woodstock, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N494KFKitfox 4-1200
- Defining event
- Initial climb: Aerodynamic stall/spin
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Central Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20220227022159A
- Case key
- 104718
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot’s failure to maintain proper airspeed and his exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall.
Findings · 4
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot departed from a river sand bar, and shortly after takeoff the airplane encountered an unexpected left quartering tailwind. The pilot reported that the airplane’s left wing stalled, which induced a spin at a low altitude. The airplane’s left wing and forward left fuselage impacted the shallow river water and sustained substantial damage. Since the accident, the airplane washed away in the river current and has not been located. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N494KF
- Reported as
- Kitfox 4-1200
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1857
- Built
- 1994
- Airframe hours
- 385
- Engine
- Rotax, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Destination
- ATA · Atlanta, TX
- Airport
- n/a
- Equipment
- Unknown
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 38
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- June 5, 2020
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 451 total · 13 in this make and model · 393 as pilot in command · 46 in the last 90 days · 25 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- 10° at 4 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 27 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.31 inHg
- Observed at
- KTXK, 23 nm away
- METAR
- KTXK 272353Z 01004KT 10SM CLR 12/M03 A3031 RMK AO2 SLP266 T01171028 10139 20094 55005
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 18, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.1 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.