Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Goldfield Ranch Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fountain Hills, Arizona 85268
Saturday, June 27, 1998 15:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
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.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot to maintain directional control during the landing roll in a crosswind.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 6/27/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1500 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | FOUNTAIN HILLS |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85268 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 6 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GOLDFIELD RANCH |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GFR |
| 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 | 1720 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1455 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KSD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 40 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 38 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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) | 570 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jun 27 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2053 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 16 2001 11:57AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N75MZ |
| NTSB Number | LAX98LA215 |
| 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 | Zimmerman |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX 4-1200 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | KITFOX 4-1 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1913 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1200 |
| 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 1 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 10 |
| Airframe Hours | 80 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TODD CLODFELTER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 9411 EAST DEER TRAIL |
| Aircraft Owner City | TUCSON |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85710 |
| 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 | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | FFZ |
| Departure City | MESA |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1400 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | GFR |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 20 2001 6:29PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 18 |
| Runway Length | 2700 |
| Runway Width | 75 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |