Kitfox II N8610X

Summary

On 17 October 2025 at about 15:54 local time, a Kitfox II registered N8610X was involved in an accident near Spruce Pine, North Carolina, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. No probable cause has been published yet; this accident is still under investigation.

Date

17 October 2025 at 15:54

Classification

Accident

Location

Spruce Pine, North Carolina, United States

Nearest airport

Avery County/Morrison Fld (7A8)

Coordinates

35.9414, -81.9940

Aircraft

Kitfox II

Registration

N8610X

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN26FA022

1 person died.

The NTSB has not published a probable cause for this record. The investigation is still open; a final report usually follows one to two years after the accident.

Nothing about the cause is stated here that is not in the source record.

Read the full NTSB narrative

On October 17, 2025, about 1154 eastern daylight time, a Kitfox II airplane, N8610X was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Spruce Pine, North Carolina. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. Witness 1 reported that the pilot completed one takeoff and landing on grass runway 17 at the Avery County Airport-Morrison. Later, two witnesses saw the airplane taxiing on the grass east of the asphalt runway near the windsock. Witness 1 reported that he briefly observed what appeared to be the accident airplane executing a takeoff roll from the east side of the airport, parallel to runway 17 (Figure 1). Figure 1 – Overview of Accident Site The accident site was located about 60 ft below airport field elevation on the side of a brush-covered embankment southeast of the approach end of runway 35. Examination of the accident site revealed that the airplane impacted the terrain in a nose-low attitude on a northwesterly heading (See Figure 2). The airframe fabric was consumed by the post impact fire, and the underlying tubular structure exhibited aft crushing consistent with impact damage. Both wings remained partially attached to the fuselage, with both flaperons found separated near their respective wings. Flight control continuity was established from the cockpit to the center fuselage near the wing roots for flaperon controls. The empennage, to include the horizontal and vertical stabilizer, elevator, and rudder, remained attached to the airframe. The rudder and elevator controls were continuous from the cockpit to their respective control surfaces. The engine was found partially attached to the airframe, with the propeller separated from the engine at the gearbox. The main wreckage was partially embedded in the ground. All three composite propeller blades were found to be thermally damaged and relatively straight. Blade A was separated near the propeller hub, blade B was partially cracked near the propeller hub, and blade C was unremarkable. Initial examination of the engine revealed damage to the engine assembly consistent with impact and the post impact fire. The crankshaft could not be rotated due to damage consistent with the impact sequence. The cylinder head and cylinders were removed, and no anomalies were observed to the engine that would have precluded normal operation. Figure 2 – View of Main Wreckage

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.