Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
the pilot's delayed application of sufficient power to arrest a high sink rate, which resulted in a hard landing. Factors in the accident were the pilot's lack of recent flight experience and the flight instructor's inadequate supervision of the flight.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Current)
Analysis
On August 6, 1995, at 1130 Pacific daylight time, a homebuilt experimental Kitfox IV 1200 airplane, N38HM, ground looped on landing and collapsed the landing gear at Weed, California. The aircraft was owned and operated by the builder/pilot and was on a dual instructional flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and included calm wind conditions. The aircraft incurred substantial damage. Neither the private pilot owner nor the commercial pilot/flight instructor onboard was injured. The flight originated from the Weed airport on the day of the accident at 1045 as a local area dual instructional flight.
The aircraft owner/builder had not flown since 1988, pending resolution of a medical certification problem. The pilot's medical was recently reinstated and he was obtaining dual instruction to complete a biennial flight review.
The pilot reported that this was the second instructional flight of the morning with his flight instructor, and had completed six full stop landings. During the last approach, the aircraft developed a high sink rate on short final and the pilot said he added a little power, which did not arrest the sink. The pilot then added full power. The high sink rate was not corrected and the aircraft landed hard on the runway, collapsing the left main landing gear. The aircraft then ground looped off the runway.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# LAX95LA279