Glendale Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Glendale, Arizona 85307
Friday, October 24, 2008 14:10 MST

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The Kitfox's pilot notified the local controller that he experienced a malfunction with his airspeed indicator and desired to make a full stop landing on runway 19. Meanwhile, the Taylorcraft pilot requested clearance to taxi for takeoff. The local and ground controllers issued the pilots their respective clearances, and the pilots proceeded as cleared. The Kitfox landed without further mishap and chose to egress the runway in a southwesterly direction using high speed taxiway A6, which terminates at taxiway A. The pilot of the Kitfox remained on the local control frequency during the time the airplane was exiting the runway and approaching taxiway A. The Taylorcraft pilot was monitoring the ground control frequency as he proceeded as cleared in a northerly direction on taxiway A, located west and parallel to runway 19. The Kitfox initially decelerated on runway 19, and further slowed on taxiways A6 and A. The collision occurred as the Kitfox began occupying the intersection of taxiways A6 and A. The visibility from both cockpits was reduced due to the fact that both airplanes were equipped with tail wheels. The converging taxi routes and the airplanes were in clear view of the controllers; however, the controllers failed to issue the pilots advisories or instructions to preclude the collision. The airport was designed such that the midfield egress point from runway 19 was located near the ingress point for airplanes that are taxiing out of the midfield parking ramp.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The Kitfox's pilot's failure to ascertain if the intersection he approached was clear of conflicting traffic and the controller's failure to provide pertinent traffic advisories to both pilots. Contributing to the accident was the reduced visibility from the cockpits of the conventional gear airplanes.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 10/24/2008
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 1410
Event Time Zone Mountain Standard Time
Event City Glendale
Event State ARIZONA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 85307
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 10
MidAir Collision Indicator --
On Ground Collision occurred ? Yes
Event Location Latitude 333137N
Event Location Longitude 1121743W
Event Location Airport Glendale Municipal
Event Location Nearest Airport ID GEU
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation 1071
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1348 Mountain Standard Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID GEU
Elevation of weather observation facility 1071
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 0
Time Zone of the weather observation MST
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height --
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 20000
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) 20
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 29
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -10
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 190
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) 29.97
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report METAR KGEU 242048Z 19005KT 20SM FEW200 29/M10 A299
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) 25992
NTSB Notification Source AWP-6 Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date --
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 17 2009 10:46AM
User who most recently changed record grol
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft #2

Aircraft Registration Number N427ET N27639
NTSB Number WPR09LA024A WPR09LA024B
Missing Aircraft Indicator -- --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None None
Flight plan Was Activated? No No
Damage Minor Substantial
Aircraft Fire None None
Aircraft Explosion None None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name HOLM MICHAEL J TAYLORCRAFT
Aircraft Model KITFOX IV 1200 BL-65
Aircraft Series Identifier -- --
Aircraft Serial Number C9420007 2281
Certified Max Gross Weight 1200 1150
Aircraft Category Airplane Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class -- --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes No
Flight Crew Seats -- --
Cabin Crew Seats -- --
Passenger Seats -- --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 2 2
Number of Engines 1 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Conditional Annual
Date of Last Inspection Oct 24 2008 12:00AM Oct 19 2008 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection -- 0
Airframe Hours 529 1500
ELT Installed Yes Yes
ELT Activated Yes No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No No
ELT Type Unknown Unknown
Aircraft Owner Name HOLM MICHAEL J Timothy A. Kiehl
Aircraft Owner Street Address -- --
Aircraft Owner City GLENDALE GLENDALE
Aircraft Owner State AZ AZ
Aircraft Owner Country USA USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 85307-1727 85302
Operator is an individual? Yes Yes
Operator Name HOLM MICHAEL J Timothy A. Kiehl
Operator Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As -- --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes Yes
Operator Street Address -- --
Operator City GLENDALE GLENDALE
Operator State AZ AZ
Operator Country USA USA
Operator Zip code 85307-1727 85302
Operator Code -- --
Owner has at least one certificate None None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No No
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 Personal
Second Pilot on Board No No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes Yes
Departure Airport Code GEU GEU
Departure City Glendale Glendale
Departure State AZ AZ
Departure Country USA USA
Departure Time 1402 --
Departure Time Zone MST MST
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code GEU GEU
Destination City Glendale Glendale
Destination State AZ AZ
Destination Country USA USA
Specific Phase of Flight -- --
Report sent to ICAO? -- --
Evacuation occurred -- --
Date of most recent change to record Nov 19 2009 7:58AM Nov 19 2009 7:58AM
User who most recently changed record grol grol
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location 19 19
Runway Length 7150 7150
Runway Width 100 100
Sight Seeing flight No No
Air Medical Flight No No
Medical Flight -- --