Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Traer Municiple Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Traer, Iowa 50675
Sunday, July 12, 1998 10:03 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The experimental Kitfox had departed and according to a witness, 'The Kitfox was slow and had a definite nose-up pitch. My very first thought when I saw the Kitfox was that the pilot was, for some reason, demonstrating slow flight. But almost as quickly, I recognized an impending stall was about to happen. The wings of the Kitfox were rocking back and forth and the nose was yawing. The Kitfox then stalled and collided with the BT-13 hitting the BT-13 in the front cockpit area and right wing before impacting the ground. ... The Kitfox came to rest inverted and burst into flames immediately after impact.' According to the pilot of the BT-13, 'I was being directed by [ground personnel] who was on the ground. The Kit Fox had departed on runway 17 and stalled overhead at 50-65 feet and struck my airplane. My prop slashed through the wreckage of the airplane and then slammed the Kit Fox to the ground where it exploded.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the failure of the pilot of the Kitfox to maintain flying speed (Vs).
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 7/12/1998 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1003 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | TRAER |
| Event State | IOWA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 50675 |
| Event Date Year | 1998 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | TRAER MUNICIPLE |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | 8C6 |
| 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 | 892 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 954 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 187 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ALO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 873 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 25 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3200 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 9 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 24 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 21 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1941 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 12 1998 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1100 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 9 2001 10:27AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N494S | N70035 |
| NTSB Number | CHI98FA244A | CHI98FA244B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | Ground | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | STUBBE-KITFOX | VULTEE |
| Aircraft Model | CLASSIC | BT-15 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | CLASSIC | BT-15 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | C9404-0019 | 1142 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 | 4745 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Unknown | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- | Mar 2 1998 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- | 11 |
| Airframe Hours | -- | 2067 |
| ELT Installed | No | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Unknown | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | KENNETH D. STUBBE | GREAT PLAINS AERO, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 2903 H AVENUE | 19 OAK PARK DRIVE NE |
| Aircraft Owner City | TOLEDO | IOWA CITY |
| Aircraft Owner State | IA | IA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | ||
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 52342 | 52240 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- | -- |
| Operator Name | JOHN BRYAN RUYLE | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1929 COTTAGE PACK DRIVE NE | |
| Operator City | SOLON | |
| Operator State | IL | |
| Operator Country | ||
| Operator Zip code | 52333 | |
| Operator Code | ||
| Owner has at least one certificate | None | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown | 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 | Personal |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 8C6 | IOW |
| Departure City | IOWA CITY | |
| Departure State | IA | |
| Departure Country | ||
| Departure Time | 0 | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | ||
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 8C6 | 8C6 |
| Destination City | ||
| Destination State | ||
| Destination Country | ||
| Specific Phase of Flight | Maneuvering | Standing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM | Jan 2 2001 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 | 0 |
| Runway Length | 2550 | -- |
| Runway Width | 100 | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |