- Date
- June 27, 1998, 15:00 local (22:00 UTC)
- Place
- Fountain Hills, AZ
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N75MZZimmerman Kitfox 4-1200
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 15, 2001
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19980627023829A
- Case key
- 30133
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 failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during the landing roll in a crosswind.
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 reported that the windsock on the south end of the airport showed that the wind was coming from a direction of 200 degrees at a velocity of 8-10 mph. After touchdown, a right crosswind caused the aircraft to veer to the right. The pilot reported that he applied full left rudder, right aileron and up elevator, and added power. The aircraft continued to swerve to the right and was weather vaning. The right main tire left the ground and the tail wheel was skipping. As the aircraft departed the right side of the landing area, the right wing contacted a tree and the landing gear and left wing tip impacted a berm along the edge of the landing area. The aircraft flipped over inverted and continued to slide about 20 feet down to the bottom of the ravine on the edge of the runway. The pilot further reported that he had not experienced any mechanical malfunction with the aircraft prior to the accident.
Factual narrative
On June 27, 1998, at 1500 hours mountain standard time, a Zimmerman Kitfox 4-1200, N75MZ, ground looped on landing at the private Goldfield Ranch Airport, Fountain Hills, Arizona. The aircraft sustained substantial damage, and the private pilot and passenger, the sole occupants, were not injured. The personal flight originated at the Mesa, Arizona, airport about 1400. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed.
The pilot reported that the windsock on the south end of the airport showed the wind was coming from a direction of 200 degrees at a velocity of 8-10 mph. After touchdown on runway 18, a right crosswind gust caused the aircraft to veer to the right. The pilot reported that he applied full left rudder, right aileron and up elevator, and added power. He reported that the aircraft continued to swerve to the right and was weather vaning. The right main tire left the ground and the tail wheel was skipping. As the aircraft departed the right side of the landing area, the right wing contacted a tree and the landing gear and left wing tip impacted a berm along the edge of the landing area. The aircraft flipped over inverted and continued to slide about 20 feet down to the bottom of the ravine on the edge of the runway.
The pilot reported that he had not experienced any mechanical malfunction with the aircraft prior to the accident.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N75MZ
- Reported as
- Zimmerman Kitfox 4-1200 (KITFOX 4-1)
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 1913
- Airframe hours
- 80
- Engine
- Rotax 582-DCD1, 65 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Todd Clodfelter
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 1998 · 10 hours before
- Departed
- FFZ · Mesa, AZ
- Destination
- GFR
- Airport
- GFR · Goldfield Ranch, runway 18, 2,700 × 75 ft, dirt
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
- 43
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Flight hours
- 680 total · 70 in this make and model · 637 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 250° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 40 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 100 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KSD
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.