- Date
- November 18, 1999, 11:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Ebensburg, PA
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N317RSStatz Kitfox II
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report June 23, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19991118046449A
- Case key
- 47771
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
was the failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during a bounced landing recovery. A factor was the pilot's lack of experience in make and model.
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 private pilot was practicing touch and go wheel landings on runway 25, when the airplane bounced. The pilot added power and the airplane initially went left. He added right rudder to correct and the airplane departed the runway on the right side, and went down an embankment. The pilot reported the winds were from 350 degrees at 3 knots. He reported his total flight experience as 150 hours with 5.6 hours in make and model. The FAA examined the airplane and reported no evidence of a mechanical failure or malfunction.
Factual narrative
On November 18, 1999, about 1145 eastern standard time, a homebuilt Kitfox II, N317RS, was substantially damaged at the Ebensburg Airport, Ebensburg, Pennsylvania. The certificated private pilot received minor injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the personal flight. No flight plan had been filed for the flight that was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
According to the airport manager, the pilot was practicing touch and go wheel landings on runway 25. The accident occurred during the second wheel landing.
The pilot reported that at a speed of about 30 miles per hour (MPH), the airplane bounced. He added power, and the airplane turned left. He then applied right rudder to correct and the airplane departed the runway on the right side, and went down an embankment.
According to an inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the left wing was bent, the landing gear had collapsed rearward, and the fuselage was twisted. In addition, there was no evidence of a mechanical failure of malfunction with the airframe or engine.
According to FAA records, the pilot had received his private pilot certificate on December 9, 1998.
The pilot received a tailwheel checkout on September 18, 1999, after he received 8.4 hours in a Piper J3. He reported his total flight experience as 150 hours, with 5.6 hours in the Kitfox.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N317RS
- Reported as
- Statz Kitfox II
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- 317
- Airframe hours
- 65
- Engine
- Rotax 532, 64 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Operator
- Allen O. Grimm
- Registered owner
- Angle Of Grace Ministries
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · February 9, 1999 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- 9G8
- Airport
- 9G8 · Ebensburg Airport, runway 25, 3,204 × 50 ft, asphalt
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
- 64
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 150 total · 6 in this make and model · 50 as pilot in command · 14 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 230° at 8 knots
- Visibility
- 20 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 10 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- JST, 9 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.