Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Gold King Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fairbanks, Alaska 99709
Saturday, September 14, 2002 17:30 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot was departing a remote runway in an experimental homebuilt airplane. The airplane climbed to about 125 feet above the ground when the engine suddenly lost partial power. The pilot selected a forced landing area ahead of the airplane. During the forced landing, the airplane collided with several trees, and received damage to the wings and empennage. The pilot reported that a postaccident inspection of the engine revealed damage to one of the engine's main crankshaft bearings. The bearing appeared to have rotated in its bearing seat.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power due to an engine bearing failure during the takeoff initial climb. A factor in the accident was unsuitable terrain for a forced landing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/14/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1730 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | FAIRBANKS |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99709 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 641200N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1475500W |
| Event Location Airport | GOLD KING |
| 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 | 0.1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 90 |
| Airport Elevation | 1700 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1753 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 337 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAFA |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 434 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 37 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| 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) | 19 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 73 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.19 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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) | 13448 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 14 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1835 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2003 9:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-FAI FSDO 01 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N996DG |
| NTSB Number | ANC02LA121 |
| 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 | GARDNER |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 996 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1150 |
| 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 | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 15 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 12 |
| Airframe Hours | 256 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | DAVID W. GARDNER |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | NORTH POLE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99705 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | FAIRBANKS |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1730 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | NORTH POLE |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff - initial climb |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 24 2003 11:37AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 09 |
| Runway Length | 2500 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |