Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Bend Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bend, Oregon 97701
Saturday, August 30, 1997 8:04 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The aircraft was occupied by a recently certificated private pilot (who owned the aircraft) in the left seat and a commercial pilot in the right seat. The private pilot/owner originally identified himself as the pilot flying at the time of the accident, stating takeoff was normal until the aircraft reached an altitude of 50 feet above ground level (AGL), where the airplane began an uncommanded right roll and subsequently cartwheeled. He subsequently changed his account, stating he asked the right-seat occupant if she wanted to do the takeoff and that she replied she did. He stated that during the takeoff, he applied throttle and she kept the airplane straight, and that at an altitude of 50 to 60 feet AGL, the airplane yawed to the right. He stated he assumed that as an experienced pilot, she would correct the yaw, but this did not occur. The airplane reached a nose angle of 90 degrees to the runway and subsequently crashed. The right-seat occupant denied flying the aircraft at the time of the accident, stating that she could not reach the rudder pedals. The aircraft's flight controls were found to be intact and functional in a post-accident examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The private pilot-in-command's failure to ensure that directional control was maintained. A related factor was the private pilot's lack of total flight experience.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/30/1997 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 804 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | BEND |
| Event State | OREGON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 97701 |
| Event Date Year | 1997 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | BEND MUNICIPAL |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | S07 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 3453 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 1 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1582 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 30 1997 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1015 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 8 2000 12:30PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N594KF |
| NTSB Number | SEA97LA199 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Comeaux |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX 1 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | KITFOX 1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 126 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 850 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | May 10 1997 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 255 |
| ELT Installed | No |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | MIKE COMEAUX |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3 WHISTLING SWAN |
| Aircraft Owner City | SUNRIVER |
| Aircraft Owner State | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 97707 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SCOTT H. OAKLEY |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 5633 |
| Operator City | BEND |
| Operator State | OR |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 97708 |
| Operator Code | |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | S07 |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 803 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 16 |
| Runway Length | 5005 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |