18 Sep 2009: Bordelon Kitfox IV — Pilot

18 Sep 2009: Bordelon Kitfox IV — Pilot

No fatalities • Dodge Center, MN, United States

Probable cause

The pilot's improper glide path during landing.

— NTSB Determination

Accident narrative

The pilot performed several maneuvers in the local area during a "phase 1" flight test. The pilot returned to the departure airport where he completed two normal landings on runway 04 (2,340 feet by 200 feet, grass) and was to perform a third landing. The pilot stated that during the third landing flare, the airplane sink rate was "too fast" and the nose wheel contacted the runway. The airplane then nosed over. The airplane was configured with full flaps. Damage to the airplane included a buckled fuselage and vertical stabilizer. The pilot was uninjured. The pilot stated that engine power should have been applied to control the sink rate. Examination of the accident site revealed a ground scar in a field about 130 feet from the runway threshold or about 30 feet from the runway edge. The ground scar was consistent with the airplane's initial touchdown point. The pilot said that he would usually use an aim point that was about 100 feet past three yellow cones that delineated each side of the threshold.

Contributing factors

  • cause Pilot
  • cause Descent/approach/glide path — Not attained/maintained

Conditions

Weather
VMC, wind 040/05kt, vis 10sm

Loading the flight search…

What you can do on Flight Finder

  • Search flights between any two airports with live fares.
  • By aircraft — pick a plane model (e.g. Boeing 787, Airbus A350) and see every route it flies from your origin.
  • Route map — click any airport worldwide to explore its destinations, or draw a radius to find nearby airports.
  • Global aviation safety — aviation accident database, 5,200+ records since 1980, with map and rankings by aircraft and operator.
  • NTSB safety feed — recent U.S. aviation accidents and incidents from the official NTSB CAROL database, updated daily.

Frequently asked questions

How do I search flights by aircraft type on FlightFinder?

Pick an aircraft model — Boeing 737, Airbus A320, A380, Boeing 787 Dreamliner and more — enter your origin airport, and FlightFinder shows every route that plane flies from there with live fares.

Which aircraft types can I filter by?

We support Boeing 737/747/757/767/777/787, the full Airbus A220/A319/A320/A321/A330/A340/A350/A380 family, Embraer E170/E175/E190/E195, Bombardier CRJ and Dash 8, and the ATR 42/72 turboprops.

Is FlightFinder free to use?

Search and schedules are free. Pro ($4.99/month, $39/year, or $99 one-time lifetime) unlocks the enriched flight card — on-time stats, CO₂ per passenger, amenities, live gate & weather — plus My Trips with push alerts.

Where does the route data come from?

Live schedules come from Amadeus, AeroDataBox and Travelpayouts. Observed routes (which aircraft actually flew a given city pair) are crowdsourced from adsb.lol ADS-B data under the Open Database License.