Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Glendale Municipal Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Glendale, Arizona 85307
Thursday, December 23, 2010 14:21 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The owner/pilot of the experimental amateur-built kit airplane was cleared by the air traffic controller to take off and remain in the traffic pattern for practice. Witnesses reported that the airplane climbed to about 200 feet above the runway before it banked sharply to the right and descended rapidly to ground impact. The impact location was offset about 300 feet from the runway centerline and was about 2,400 feet down the 7,150 foot long runway. The airplane motion, trajectory, and impact angle were consistent with an aerodynamic stall. The wind was calm, the density altitude was about 1,340 feet, and the airplane was about 380 pounds below its maximum gross weight of 1,350 pounds.
Several days after the accident, the pilot stated that he intentionally attempted to take off using partial engine power. The kit manufacturer's published guidance for the airplane contained conflicting information regarding the amount of power to be used for takeoff. The checklist section specified full power for takeoff. In contrast, the "Flight Tips" section instructed "new" pilots to "restrict take-off power to about 75% of full power" but did not provide any elaborating information. The guidance specified climb speeds between 45 and 65 mph and a clean power-off stall speed of 38 mph. The airplane was not equipped with either a stall warning or angle-of-attack indication system, and it was not required to be so equipped. Had the pilot recognized and correctly reacted to the impending stall, either by adding power, pushing the airplane nose down, or both, it is likely that the accident would not have occurred. The investigation was unable to determine the accuracy of the airspeed indication system or the actual stall speeds or stall characteristics of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to recognize the onset of and to prevent an aerodynamic stall at low altitude. Contributing to the accident were the manufacturer’s conflicting guidance about the power setting for takeoff and the pilot’s decision to conduct a partial-power takeoff.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/23/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1421 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | Glendale |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 85307 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 333130N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1121730W |
| 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 | 1425 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?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 6000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 20 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 16 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 7 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | -- |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Calm |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.13 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 30354 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Western Pacific ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2012 5:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N95FT |
| NTSB Number | WPR11LA080 |
| 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 | Schaefer |
| Aircraft Model | Kitfox 4 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1557 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1350 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| 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 12 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 4 |
| Airframe Hours | 52 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Unknown |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Andrew Schaefer |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Peoria |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 85382 |
| Operator is an individual? | Yes |
| Operator Name | Andrew Schaefer |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Peoria |
| Operator State | AZ |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 85382 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | 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 |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | GEU |
| Departure City | Glendale |
| Departure State | AZ |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1321 |
| Departure Time Zone | MST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | GEU |
| Destination City | Glendale |
| Destination State | AZ |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 13 2012 5:08PM |
| User who most recently changed record | coos |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 01 |
| Runway Length | 7150 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |