- Date
- May 18, 2004, 16:43 local (22:43 UTC)
- Place
- Montrose, CO
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Initial climb
- Aircraft
- N3079HWilford J. Tolman Kitfox 6
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report September 1, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- FAA FSDO
- Case key
- 59307
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 aircraft control during takeoff initial climb. A contributing factor was the gusting left tailwind weather condition.
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
The pilot was departing on runway 31. Immediately after liftoff, he said a gust of wind (200 degrees for 25 knots) struck his airplane. The airplane fell to the ground and departed the right side of the runway. Subsequently, the airplane rotated to the left approximately 180 degrees, causing the right main gear to be folded back and bending the empennage approximately 80 degrees to the left.
Factual narrative
On May 18, 2002, at 1643 mountain daylight time, a Tolman Kitfox 6 home-built, N3079H, was substantially damaged following departure off the right side of runway 31, at Montrose Regional Airport, Montrose, Colorado. The commercial pilot and his passenger were not injured. The airplane was being operated under Title 14 CFR Part 91. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal, cross-country flight that was originating at the time of the accident.
The pilot said that he was taking off and had just become airborne. A gust of wind struck him from the left rear (200 degrees for 25 knots), and the airplane departed the right side of the runway. The airplane subsequently rotated approximately 180 degrees to the left, causing the right main gear to be folded back and bending the empennage approximately 80 degrees to the left. The density altitude was calculated to be 8,344 feet.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3079H
- Reported as
- Wilford J. Tolman Kitfox 6
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 2
- Airframe hours
- 124
- Engine
- Rotax 712, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Keith Hooker
- Departed
- MTJ · Montrose, CO
- Destination
- PVU · Provo, UT
- Airport
- MTJ · Montrose Regional, runway 31, 7,509 × 100 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
- 65
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,230 total · 75 in this make and model · 20 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 200° at 15 knots, gusting 25
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 79 °F, dew point 28 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MTJ, 1 nm away