Rasmussen KITFOX 2 accident near Battle Ground, WA
On October 1, 1995, a Rasmussen KITFOX 2 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Battle Ground, WA. 1 person died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- October 1, 1995
- Place
- Battle Ground, WA
- Aircraft
- Rasmussen KITFOX 2 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 45.800°N, 122.480°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001207X04786
NTSB summary
On October 1, 1995, approximately 1450 Pacific daylight time, a Rasmussen Kitfox 2, N488WR, experienced an inflight loss of control on climbout from Goheen Airport near Battle Ground, Washington. The airplane subsequently struck trees, then impacted terrain; a fire erupted immediately upon impact. The airplane was destroyed and the private pilot, who owned but had not built the experimental-category airplane, was fatally injured. His passenger received serious injuries. The flight had been planned as a local 14 CFR 91 flight out of Goheen Airport. Visual meteorological conditions existed and no flight plan had been filed. Three individuals who witnessed the accident from various locations on the airport submitted statements to the investigator. These statements were in general agreement as to the accident sequence. The witnesses observed the airplane take off on runway 33, then, after a lift-off which appeared normal, pull up into a "steep climb" (all three witnesses used this phrase to describe the climb angle; one also reported "The climb angle was steeper than I would consider normal", and another stated "I had seen the pilot climb out like that on two previous occasions.") Two of the witnesses reported that during the steep climb, the airplane began to drift to the right (east) over tall fir trees. They stated that the airplane then leveled off between 50 and 100 feet above the trees (one stated that the plane's airspeed appeared "very slow" at this point) and began a right turn and headed east. They stated that the plane was descending by this point and observed its no
Probable cause
failure of the pilot to maintain adequate airspeed during the initial climb after takeoff, which resulted in a stall/mush and subsequent collision with trees and the ground.
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Browse: Washington
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
