Albright Stan KITFOX SUPER SPORT N960WM

Summary

On 18 October 2012 at about 20:40 local time, a Albright Stan KITFOX SUPER SPORT registered N960WM, operated by Charles W d'Autremont, was involved in an accident near Twin Bridges, Montana, United States. One person was on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 October 2012 at 20:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Twin Bridges, Montana, United States

Nearest airport

Twin Bridges (K7S1)

Coordinates

45.5336, -112.3025

Aircraft

Albright Stan KITFOX SUPER SPORT

Registration

N960WM

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Charles W d'Autremont

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Twin Bridges → Twin Bridges

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR13CA018

Nobody was injured.

The airplane builder’s failure to rig the flight controls correctly, which resulted in a loss of control after takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot attempted to perform a full-flap soft-field takeoff in the experimental light sport airplane. The pilot had flown about 16 hours in the accident airplane in the 4 months since he purchased it from the airplane builder; however, this was his first attempt at full-flap soft-field takeoff in this airplane. As the airplane left the ground, it rolled abruptly to the right. The right wing tip struck the ground, and the airplane cartwheeled, coming to rest pointing in the opposite direction of intended travel. The right wing and fuselage were substantially damaged. Postaccident examination revealed that the airplane's flaperons were misrigged and that the resultant difference in flaperon deflection was more extreme in the full flap position. In the full flap position with a full left control deflection input, the right flaperon moved 3 degrees more and the left flaperon 3 degrees less than they would have if properly rigged. The asymmetric nature of the flaperon deflections induced an adverse yaw to the right despite the pilot's corrective control inputs. Examination of the airplane maintenance logbook revealed that the airplane builder performed the most recent annual airworthiness inspection 4 1/2 months before the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.