Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Glendale, Arizona 85301
Monday, March 3, 2003 14:00 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane impacted a dirt bank and nosed over during an emergency landing after the airplane lost a portion of its propeller during flight. During cruise flight, the pilots heard a loud "womp" followed by a vibration. The pilot could see that the propeller was split and a piece of it was missing. The pilot and his CFI advised the tower that they would be making an emergency landing. They shut down the engine, and made an approach to land in an alfalfa field; however, they hit the bank. The pilot found a small feather with a reddish colored material on the propeller after the accident. A propeller examination revealed no preimpact anomalies. Laboratory examination of the propeller revealed positive test results for blood and animal tissue.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the propeller's separation in-flight as a result of a bird strike.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 3/3/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1400 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Glendale |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85301 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 3 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333138N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1121743W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| 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 | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1347 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GEU |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 1066 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 18000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Overcast |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 3 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.93 |
| 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) | 16913 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Mar 3 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1335 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 28 2004 12:45PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-SDL-FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N95FT |
| NTSB Number | LAX03LA104 |
| 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 | Towner |
| Aircraft Model | Kit Fox 4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1557 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| 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 11 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 146 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Andrew Schaefer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Peoria |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85382 |
| 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) | Instructional |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KGEU |
| Departure City | Glendale |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1310 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KGEU |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 8 2004 5:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | COOS |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |