N/A Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Fairmont, Minnesota 56031
Thursday, July 4, 2002 9:30 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The pilot attempted to depart an alfalfa field adjacent to his home. After becoming airborne, he crossed a road and a railroad track adjacent to the field, and impacted a tree line running along the tracks. The pilot held a student pilot certificate without a solo endorsment.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Failure by the pilot to obtain adequate clearance from the tree line, as well as a failure to abort the takeoff in a timely manner. A contributing factor was the tree line.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/4/2002
Event Day of the Week Thursday
Time of Event 930
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Fairmont
Event State MINNESOTA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 56031
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 433938N
Event Location Longitude 0942456W
Event Location Airport N/A
Event Location Nearest Airport ID ---
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 935 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 180
Weather Observation Facility ID FRM
Elevation of weather observation facility 1162
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling None
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 24
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 120
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 9
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 14
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.13
Density Altitude (feet) 2280
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 13159
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Jul 4 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1020
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 18 2003 4:34PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office MSP FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N76WH
NTSB Number CHI02LA156
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Unknown
Flight plan Was Activated? No
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Hale
Aircraft Model Kitfox Model III
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 756
Certified Max Gross Weight --
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 --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed Unknown
ELT Activated Unknown
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Unknown
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name James H. Fisher
Aircraft Owner Street Address 1319 Middleton Avenue
Aircraft Owner City Eagle Grove
Aircraft Owner State IA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 50533
Operator is an individual? Yes
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? --
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 Yes
Departure Airport Code --
Departure City --
Departure State --
Departure Country --
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
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 - initial climb
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Feb 14 2003 9:00AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location N/A
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --