Kemmerer Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Kemmerer, Wyoming 83101
Wednesday, February 20, 2002 12:30 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

After liftoff, a quartering headwind pushed the airplane to the left side of the runway. The left main gear struck a snow bank and airspeed dropped. The pilot felt he could not clear obstacles ahead and decided to land in the snow. The left main landing gear collapsed, and the left wing then struck the snow. According to the pilot, the wind was from 260 degrees at 20 knots when he started his takeoff on runway 22.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during takeoff, which resulted in a collision with a snowbank. A contributing factor was the high crosswind.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 2/20/2002
Event Day of the Week Wednesday
Time of Event 1230
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Kemmerer
Event State WYOMING
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 83101
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 2
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport Kemmerer Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID EMM
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 7282
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1153 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 200
Weather Observation Facility ID EVW
Elevation of weather observation facility 7163
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 51
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 4000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 900
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) -1
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -2
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 250
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 7
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.13
Density Altitude (feet) 6688
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 2
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 12063
NTSB Notification Source FAA COMM CTR
NTSB Notification Date Feb 20 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Jul 25 2002 9:28AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Denver, Colorado

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N84RL
NTSB Number DEN02LA027
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Knight
Aircraft Model BD-4
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 84
Certified Max Gross Weight 2000
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 Oct 2 2001 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 187
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Harold O. Stockman
Aircraft Owner Street Address On File
Aircraft Owner City Spring Creek
Aircraft Owner State NV
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 89815
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address On File
Operator City Elko
Operator State NV
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 89801
Operator Code --
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
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 EMM
Departure City Kemmerer
Departure State WY
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1230
Departure Time Zone MST
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code EKO
Destination City Elko
Destination State NV
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Takeoff - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jun 28 2002 4:42PM
User who most recently changed record MCBM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location EMM
Runway Length 2850
Runway Width 60
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --