Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Payson Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Payson, Arizona 85544
Saturday, August 28, 2004 12:37 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airplane collided with terrain following a loss of control while maneuvering. The pilot was flying the airplane about 10-12 miles west of the airport when he began to notice fluctuations in indicated airspeed, resulting from gusty wind conditions. Shortly thereafter, turbulence was encountered and the airplane's indicated airspeed suddenly dropped by more than 30 knots and the airplane stalled. The airplane's nose pitched down and the airplane rolled to the left. The airplane regained airspeed during the stall recovery, but the pilot was unable to maneuver the airplane to avoid rising terrain. The pilot-rated passenger recalled the pilot maneuvering the airplane into a narrow canyon northwest of the airport. As the pilot added power and configured the airplane in a climb, the airplane encountered turbulence, rolled to the left and pitched down. The pilot attempted to regain control, but was unable to avoid the terrain. The pilot of a Cessna 172 was maneuvering the airplane over the accident site for about 1 hour 30 minutes while directing an air ambulance helicopter to the location of the accident. The pilot reported that during this time, moderate turbulence and gusty wind conditions prevailed. The pilot encountered difficulty maintaining the airplane at the desired altitude of 7,500 feet mean sea level and at the appropriate airspeed. He added that the indicated airspeed fluctuated with wind gusts, and the airplane's altitude varied by more than 500 feet. The pilot and passenger both said there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed, which resulted in a stall and subsequent collision with terrain. Contributing factors to the accident were the turbulence and the gusting wind conditions.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/28/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1237 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Payson |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85544 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 341430N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1112942W |
| Event Location Airport | Payson Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAN |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 11.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 270 |
| Airport Elevation | 5157 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1235 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | KPAN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5157 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| 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) | 35 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 250 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.2 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7400 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 2 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 18497 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 28 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1347 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 27 2005 6:51AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | WP-FSDO-Scottsdale, AZ |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N728KF |
| NTSB Number | LAX04LA305 |
| 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 | Gibbs |
| Aircraft Model | Kitfox IV |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | ICU093 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1232 |
| 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 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 71 |
| Airframe Hours | 71 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Michael Gibbs |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | On File |
| Aircraft Owner City | Phoenix |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85022 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KPAN |
| Departure City | Payson |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1210 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | KPAN |
| Destination City | Payson |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 18 2005 4:50PM |
| 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 | -- |