Limington-Harmon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Limington, Maine 04049
Sunday, September 14, 2003 10:30 EDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The homebuilt tail-wheeled airplane was landing on a 2,973-foot-long, 50-foot-wide, asphalt runway. The pilot reported that during the flare, the airplane's nose pitched up and he continued to a 3-point landing. The tail-wheel and main landing gear came down "rather hard," and the right main landing gear failed. The airplane departed the right side of the runway and struck trees. The accident flight was the airplane's first flight after being assembled. Examination of the airplane did not revealed any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions. The pilot reported about 140 hours of total flight experience, which included 1.7 hours in make and model.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's improper flare, which resulted in a hard landing. A factor in this accident was the pilot's lack of experience in make and model.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 9/14/2003
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1030
Event Time Zone Eastern Daylight Time
Event City Limington
Event State MAINE
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 04049
Event Date Year 2003
Event Date Month 9
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 434546N
Event Location Longitude 0704020W
Event Location Airport LIMINGTON-HARMON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID 63B
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 291
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1051 Eastern Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 115
Weather Observation Facility ID PWM
Elevation of weather observation facility 74
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 20
Time Zone of the weather observation EST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
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) 22
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 17
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator Variable
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.34
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 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 15005
NTSB Notification Source PWM FSDO
NTSB Notification Date Oct 21 2003 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1110
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Mar 2 2004 8:06AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Portland

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N10224
NTSB Number NYC03LA210
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 Simoneau
Aircraft Model Kitfox Classic IV
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number C0010-0263
Certified Max Gross Weight 1200
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/Foreign Oper.
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 Aug 26 2003 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 4
Airframe Hours 4
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Roy T. SimoneaU
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Denmark
Aircraft Owner State ME
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
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 63B
Departure City Limington
Departure State ME
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1030
Departure Time Zone EDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code 63B
Destination City --
Destination State --
Destination Country --
Specific Phase of Flight Landing
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Dec 8 2003 11:55AM
User who most recently changed record PEAR
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 11
Runway Length 2973
Runway Width 50
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --