- Date
- January 18, 2020, 10:30 local (15:30 UTC)
- Place
- Wauchula, FL
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N4283VDenney Kitfox
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 27, 2020
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20200118003629A
- Case key
- 100845
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 improper landing flare in gusting crosswind conditions, which resulted in a bounced landing, and his subsequent failure to maintain directional control, which resulted in a runway excursion and nose-over.
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 reported that he was conducting a crosswind landing. The airplane touched down, bounced slightly, settled, and it then veered off the right side of the runway onto grass, struck a light, flipped over, and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder and the fuselage forward of the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation and that a gusting crosswind existed during the touchdown.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that he was conducting a crosswind landing on runway 36, in the tailwheel-equipped experimental, amateur-built airplane. The airplane touched down, bounced slightly, settled, and then veered off the right side of the runway. It struck a light, then flipped over in the grass and came to rest inverted. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the rudder and the fuselage forward of the horizontal stabilizer. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. The nearest weather reporting station, located 29 miles east of the airport, reported that, about the time of the accident, the wind was from 110° at 14 knots. The pilot reported that the wind was from 270° at 8 knots gusting to 14 knots.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4283V
- Reported as
- Denney Kitfox (III)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 770
- Built
- 2003
- Engine
- Rotax 528LC, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 9, 2019
- Departed
- 48X · Palmetto, FL
- Destination
- CHN · Wauchula, FL
- Airport
- CHN · Wauchula Muni, runway 36, 4,005 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- ADS-B
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
- 63
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Sport pilot
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 115 total · 42 in this make and model · 61 as pilot in command · 42 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 110° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 73 °F, dew point 57 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.36 inHg
- Observed at
- SEF, 29 nm away
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 7, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.7 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.