- Date
- March 1, 1999, 17:10 local (23:10 UTC)
- Place
- Waunakee, WI
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N394GLCalkins Kitfox 5
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report May 12, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19990301001889A
- Case key
- 45846
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 fracture of the trim actuator.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
As the airplane was turning base to final the pilot, 'felt a bump and vibration in the control stick...' when he commanded a final nose-up trim adjustment. The pilot reported that the remainder of the approach to the runway was uneventful. The pilot stated that, 'When I went to flare for the landing I did not have any pitch control.' The pilot reported that the airplane landed very hard and bounced back into the air in a nose high orientation. The pilot reported that during the hard landing the seat broke from its mounts and fell onto the flaperon control tube, inhibiting flaperon actuation. The pilot stated that the airplane then 'Stalled', landed tail first on the runway, ground looped, and came to rest with the right wingtip and the tail touching the ground. Post accident examination of the aircraft showed that the trim actuator was fractured at its attachment point to the airframe.
Factual narrative
On March 1, 1999, at 1710 central standard time (CST), a Calkins Kitfox 5, N394GL, piloted by a commercial pilot, was destroyed during a hard landing and subsequent ground loop at the Waunakee Airport, near Waunakee, Wisconsin. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 CFR Part 91. The flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot-in-command and pilot-rated passenger reported no injuries. The flight departed Waunakee Airport at 1630 CST for a local flight.
According to the pilot-in-command's written statement, as the airplane was turning base to final the pilot, "felt a bump and vibration in the control stick..." when he commanded a final nose-up trim adjustment. The pilot reported that the remainder of the approach to the runway was uneventful. The pilot stated that, "When I went to flare for the landing I did not have any pitch control." The pilot reported that the airplane landed very hard and bounced back into the air in a nose high orientation. The pilot reported that during the hard landing the seat broke from its mounts and fell onto the flaperon control tube, inhibiting flaperon actuation. The pilot stated that the airplane then "Stalled", landed tail first on the runway, ground looped, and came to rest with the right wingtip and the tail touching the ground.
Post accident inspection of the aircraft showed that the trim actuator was fractured at its attachment point to the airframe.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N394GL
- Reported as
- Calkins Kitfox 5
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 59404-0021
- Airframe hours
- 104
- Engine
- Subaru EA81 SHO, 118 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Gene M. Calkins
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · June 30, 1998 · 34 hours before
- Departed
- WI06
- Airport
- WI06 · Waunakee Airport, runway 27, 2,230 × 30 ft, asphalt
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
- 53
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 1,394 total · 105 in this make and model · 1,226 as pilot in command · 8 in the last 90 days · 3 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 4 knots
- Lowest ceiling
- 8,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 41 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MSN, 6 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.