- Date
- December 12, 2015, 14:50 local (22:50 UTC)
- Place
- Tracy, CA
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N35KFKelm David Kitfox 7
- Defining event
- Landing-flare/touchdown: Hard landing
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 2016
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- General Aviation Accidents
- Parties
- FAA Oakland FSDO
- FAA report
- 20151212022879A
- Case key
- 92474
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 pitch control during the landing, which resulted in a hard landing, runway excursion and impact 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 reported that while conducting a touch-and-go landing in a tailwheel-equipped airplane, he "flared too high, touching down fairly hard." He reported that he attempted to abort the landing, the airplane departed the runway to the left, and the nose of the airplane impacted the ground coming to a stop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Factual narrative
The pilot reported that while conducting a touch-and-go landing in a tailwheel-equipped airplane, he "flared too high, touching down fairly hard." He reported that he attempted to abort the landing, the airplane departed the runway to the left, and the nose of the airplane impacted the ground coming to a stop. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, fuselage, and empennage. The pilot reported there were no pre-impact mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airframe or engine that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N35KF
- Reported as
- Kelm David Kitfox 7 (NO SERIES)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 570311046
- Built
- 2007
- Airframe hours
- 411
- Engine
- Rotax 912ULS, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Deford, David L.
- Registered owner
- Deford, David L.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Condition · March 28, 2015
- Departed
- LVK · Livermore, CA
- Destination
- 1Q4 · Tracy, CA
- Airport
- 1Q4 · New Jerusalem, runway 30, 3,530 × 60 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Onboard weather, Electronic primary flight display, ADS-B, Electronic flight bag or handheld device, Electronic multifunction display, Handheld GPS
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
- 67
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Last flight review
- September 20, 2014
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 739 total · 42 in this make and model · 606 as pilot in command · 5 in the last 90 days · 2 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 310° at 3 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Temperature
- 59 °F, dew point 41 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.13 inHg
- Observed at
- KSCK, 13 nm away
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on January 28, 2016, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.1 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.