- Date
- July 3, 2025, 19:32 local (Jul 4, 2025, 00:32 UTC)
- Place
- Greenville, KY
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N11TYYates Tom W Kitfox III
- Defining event
- Takeoff: Loss of control on ground
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 14, 2025
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Eastern Region Aviation
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20250703013449A
- Case key
- 200458
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 loss of control during takeoff.
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 of the experimental amateur-built airplane reported that during takeoff, the tailwheel-equipped airplane began to veer to the right. He pulled the throttle back and the airplane briefly went left, then the right wing lifted, and the airplane drifted right again. The airplane went off the left side of the runway and nosed over, which resulted in substantial damage to the wings, fuselage, and empennage. A postaccident examination revealed that the left main landing gear had twisted 90 degrees, and the normally outboard face of the wheel was facing aft. Whether the damage to the left main landing gear precipitated or was a result of the runway excursion was not determined.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N11TY
- Reported as
- Yates Tom W Kitfox III
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 001 TY
- Built
- 1994
- Airframe hours
- 197.6
- Engine
- Rotax 912UL, 80 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · May 2, 2025 · 0.5 hours before
- Airport
- M21 · Muhlenberg County, runway 24, 4,999 × 75 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Electronic primary flight display
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
- 82
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- BasicMed, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- November 19, 2023
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 1,525 total · 65 in this make and model · 1,525 as pilot in command · 0.5 in the last 90 days · 0 in the last 30 days · 0 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 9 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 84 °F, dew point 68 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.02 inHg
- Observed at
- HVC, 27 nm away
- METAR
- KHVC 040015Z AUTO 00000KT 9SM CLR 29/20 A3002 RMK AO2
Docket · 3
The files NTSB released with the investigation on November 14, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 2.3 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.