Banes John Scott KITFOX SERIES 6 N506F

Summary

On 30 May 2024 at about 22:10 local time, a Banes John Scott KITFOX SERIES 6 registered N506F was involved in an accident near Parowan, Utah, 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

30 May 2024 at 22:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Parowan, Utah, United States

Nearest airport

Parowan (1L9)

Coordinates

37.8586, -112.8175

Aircraft

Banes John Scott KITFOX SERIES 6

Registration

N506F

Category

Airplane

Year built

2004

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Craig → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24LA177

Nobody was injured.

The pilot’s inability to control the airplane during landing due to tailwheel assembly damage sustained during a previous shimmy event that occurred for reasons that could not be determined based on the available evidence.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that, during takeoff, he felt a shimmy in the tailwheel-equipped airplane. During the subsequent three-point landing, the airplane veered left immediately upon touchdown. The airplane departed the left side of runway and ground looped, which collapsed the right main landing gear and substantially damaged the right wing. An NTSB structures engineer’s review of postaccident photographs of the tailwheel assembly determined that deformation and fracture features on the fitting flanges on the extruded base of the tailwheel assembly were from a twisting motion about the single bolt that secured the tailwheel assembly to the suspension assembly, consistent with that resulting from a tailwheel shimmy event. The accident circumstances and damage evidence are consistent with a failure of the tailwheel assembly due to improper movement or rotation around the tailwheel attachment bolt during the shimmy event during takeoff, which resulted in a subsequent loss of control of the airplane during landing. However, the investigation could not determine if the shimmy event resulted from a loose attachment bolt, or if the movement around the attachment bolt resulted from the shimmy event.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.