Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Frontier Airpark Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Lake Stevens, Washington 98258
Saturday, September 27, 2014 15:35 PDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On September 27, 2014, about 1535 Pacific daylight time, an amateur-built experimental Tifft Kitfox III, N307KF, collided with the terrain following a loss of control during takeoff initial climb at the Frontier Airpark (WN53), near Lake Stevens, Washington. The left seat pilot, who was receiving instruction, sustained fatal injuries, and the right seat certified flight instructor sustained serious injuries. The airplane was registered to and operated by a private individual as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, an no flight plan was filed. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.
An eyewitness to the accident reported that during the airplane's initial climb it did not seem to be producing power, and at an altitude of about 200 feet above ground level (agl), the airplane drifted to the right of the runway. The witness further reported that as the airplane approached a stand of trees he observed it pitch up, the wings rocked back and forth from side to side, followed by the airplane descending to the right, in a right wing low, nose down attitude; the witness lost sight of the airplane as it descended behind the stand of trees. Additionally, two other witnesses reported that the airplane's engine did not seem to be producing full power during the takeoff, and that it was side-slipping and losing altitude from about 200 feet agl. The reported wind at the time of the accident was from 310 degrees at 11 knots, with gusts to 16 knots.
A survey of the accident site by the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge revealed that the airplane impacted terrain about 2,925 feet from where it would have initiated its takeoff roll on Runway 34, and about 225 feet east of the runway. The airplane came to rest on its nose and left wing, with the fuselage oriented tail up at about a 45-degree angle. The at rest heading was measured at 243 degrees magnetic. All flight components necessary for flight were accounted for at the accident site.
The airplane was recovered to a secured location for further examination.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/27/2014 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1535 |
| Event Time Zone | Pacific Daylight Time |
| Event City | Lake Stevens |
| Event State | WASHINGTON |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 98258 |
| Event Date Year | 2014 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 480650N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1220345E |
| Event Location Airport | Frontier Airpark |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | WN53 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 60 |
| Airport Elevation | 480 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1535 Pacific Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 295 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | AWO |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 142 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 45 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | PDT |
| 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) | 17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 13 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 11 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 16 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.11 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional 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 | Sep 30 2014 5:55PM |
| User who most recently changed record | litt |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N307KF |
| NTSB Number | WPR14FA393 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | TIFFT |
| Aircraft Model | KITFOX III |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 1040 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1050 |
| 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 | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Robert L Elder |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Camano Island |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98282 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Robert L Elder |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Camano Island |
| Operator State | WA |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 98282 |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | WN53 |
| Departure City | Lake Stevens |
| Departure State | WA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1535 |
| Departure Time Zone | PDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | WN53 |
| Destination City | Lake Stevens |
| Destination State | WA |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Oct 2 2014 11:10AM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 34 |
| Runway Length | 3800 |
| Runway Width | 50 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |