Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Carson City Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Carson City, Nevada 89704
Sunday, May 24, 1998 9:30 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot stated that the purpose of the flight was to conduct touch-and-go landings. On the fourth touch-and-go landing the airplane veered to the right and the pilot attempted an unsuccessful go-around. Examination of the aircraft revealed a broken shock cord on the right main landing gear. Examination of aircraft records revealed that the aircraft had recently completed an annual inspection and the airframe had accrued 125 hours, without replacement of the shock cords. The shock cord was inspected, and found to exhibit internal ultra violet aging due to the abraded outside fabric lacing. According to the manufacturer, the shock cords are designed to be the weakest link in the landing gear system, and will fail at some point. He further stated that the shock cords should be replaced at the annual inspection. As a result of the accident, it was found that no provisions were made in the annual inspection checklist for replacement of the shock cords during the annual inspection. In the manufacturer's newsletter, under Maintenance Items, there was a reminder to replace the shock cords annually. The pilot stated that he was not aware that the shock cords needed to be replaced on an annual basis, as this was not mentioned in the annual inspection checklist. The manufacturer has since amended the annual inspection checklist to require replacement of the shock cord on an annual basis.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the right landing gear shock cord because of ultraviolet deterioration in an area of abraded outer fabric, that resulted in a loss of directional control on landing and subsequent ground collision. Factors were the owner/builder's failure to replace the worn shock cord, and the kit manufacturer's failure to include its replacement in the annual inspection checklist.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/24/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 930 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | CARSON CITY |
| Event State | NEVADA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 89704 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | CARSON CITY |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | CXP |
| 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 | 4697 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 956 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 235 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | RNO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 4412 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 98 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 18 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 350 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| 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) | 1817 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 24 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1040 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 11 2000 11:22AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N38JK |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA173 |
| 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 | John H. Korb Jr. |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX III |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | KITFOX III |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 751 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| 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 | Mar 24 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 47 |
| Airframe Hours | 125 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | JOHN H. KORB JR. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 20 MARANATHA RD. |
| Aircraft Owner City | CARSON CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | NV |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 89704 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| 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 | CXP |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 930 |
| 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 | Landing |
| 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 | 27 |
| Runway Length | 5900 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |