- Date
- July 19, 2024, 14:30 local (18:30 UTC)
- Place
- Palmyra, PA · Corn Field
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N788KFSheaffer Leroy B Kitfox Model IV
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 3
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20240719011429A
- Case key
- 194742
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 directional control of the tailwheel airplane during takeoff from a narrow runway with a crosswind, which resulted in a runway excursion and collision with terrain.
Findings · 2
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 stated that, during takeoff from a 40-ft-wide runway and just as he lifted the tailwheel off the ground, the airplane immediately turned left and departed the runway. The airplane bounced hard and fractured the right main landing gear, coming to rest upright in a corn field. There was a right crosswind at the time of departure and the right wing lifted as soon as the tailwheel left the ground. During a postaccident examination of the airplane, flight control continuity was established to all flight controls and no preimpact mechanical malfunctions were identified. The right main landing gear was fractured off and the brake line was severed. Both wheels spun freely and the brakes were not seized up.
Factual narrative
On July 19, 2024, about 1430 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Kitfox Model IV, N788KF, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Palmyra, Pennsylvania. The pilot incurred minor injuries, and the pilot-rated passenger was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. The pilot was taking off from runway 31, a 40-ft-wide asphalt runway. He reported that just as he lifted the tailwheel off the ground the airplane immediately turned hard left and departed the side of the runway. The airplane bounced hard and fractured the right main landing gear before coming to rest upright in a corn field. The pilot stated that there was a right crosswind at the time of departure, and the passenger had commented that the right wing lifted as soon as the tailwheel came off the ground. Examination of the wreckage by a Federal Aviation Administration inspector revealed substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and left wing. Flight control continuity was established to all flight controls. The right main landing gear was fractured off the strut and the brake line was severed. The left main landing gear was intact. Both wheels spun freely, and the brakes were not seized up. The inspector reported no preimpact mechanical malfunctions.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N788KF
- Reported as
- Sheaffer Leroy B Kitfox Model IV
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- LBS087
- Built
- 2010
- Airframe hours
- 202
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · January 27, 2024
- Airport
- 58N · Reigle Fld, runway 31, 1,955 × 40 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Electronic multifunction display, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device
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 · 2
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 68
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- April 10, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 545 total · 98 in this make and model · 545 as pilot in command · 15 in the last 90 days · 10 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
- Role
- Pilot-rated passenger
- Age
- 80
- Injuries
- Fatal
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 260° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.11 inHg
- Observed at
- MUI, 9 nm away
- METAR
- KMUI 191855Z 26007KT 10SM SCT060 SCT250 29/10 A3011 RMK AO2A SLP196 T02880100
Docket · 5
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 29, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 5.6 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.