- Date
- March 29, 2025, 09:45 local (16:45 UTC)
- Place
- Marana, AZ
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N70265Park Roderic B Kitfox IV
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Western Pacific Region
- Parties
- FAA
- FAA report
- 20250329004529A
- Case key
- 199940
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 clearance from an obstacle while performing an off-airport landing.
Findings · 3
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 he departed a private airstrip the morning of the accident and flew to a nearby public airport. After performing several touch-and-go takeoffs and landings in the traffic pattern, he departed the traffic pattern to continue the flight. He opted to perform an off-airport landing in an open dirt field at a state park. After one reconnaissance pass, he verified that the intended touchdown area appeared flat and smooth except for a few obstacles, one of which included a dead tree stump on the left side of the rollout path. During the three-point touchdown, the airplane drifted left. As the pilot attempted to correct the drift, the airplane aligned directly with the stump. The left main gear struck the stump, shearing the wheel assembly at the axle, which dug into the dirt. The airplane nosed over and came to rest inverted, facing the opposite direction, which resulted in substantial damage to the rudder and fuselage. The pilot stated that there were no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N70265
- Reported as
- Park Roderic B Kitfox IV
- Category
- Airplane, amateur-built
- Serial number
- BDU-155
- Built
- 1998
- Airframe hours
- 514
- Engine
- Rotax 912UL, 80 hp, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Airworthiness certificate
- Special, Experimental (Special)
- Last inspection
- Annual · December 23, 2024 · 502.4 hours before
- Departed
- 4AZ8 · Marana, AZ
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
- 29
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Sport Pilot
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Sport pilot, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 4, 2024
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 77 total · 13 in this make and model · 14 as pilot in command · 13 in the last 90 days · 8 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 240° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 75 °F, dew point 23 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.87 inHg
- Observed at
- KMZJ, 8 nm away
- METAR
- KMZJ 291735Z AUTO 24010KT 10SM CLR 24/M05 A2987 RMK AO2
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 21, 2025, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 1.8 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.
Other investigations on N70265 · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.