Kitfox Iv crash - 1 dead

[Dave F]

Anyone know about this ?

The aircraft, a Skystar Kitfox 4 submerged about 75 yards offshore after impact with Upper Whitefish Lake, Crow Wing County, near Crosslake, Minnesota. The aircraft sustained unreported damage and the pilot onboard was fatally injured. The passenger onboard the aircraft received unspecified injuries.

[rwaltman]

Anyone know about this ?
The aircraft, a Skystar Kitfox 4 ...

aviation-safety.net reports the tail number as "N602JT?" (with the question mark)

The FAA registry page for that number says
Owner Name - SALE REPORTED
Status - Cert Terminated

( http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=N602JT )

R.

[Timberwolf]

Never good to hear. Looks like it was just sold and the paperwork hadn't gone through yet for the new owner. Never good for the GA and experimental communities. Hopefully the survivor can shed some light on just what happened. I would assume this is who built the aircraft from registration:
Manufacturer Name TOMAN JACK JR

[Mnflyer]

Per on sight witness's the passenger was a photographer and the plane was circling when it flipped over and spiraled into the lake. This per the news media and eyewitness stories.

[henrysamson]

We had an FAA employee present a safety briefing at our EAA Chapter a couple of months ago and this accident may tie into his presentation. Apparently the experimental/homebuilt accident statistics would be much improved if the first several flights of new owners are removed. Apparently builders have very good safety records but new owners who are not very familiar with the aircraft and have not been through the testing program that the builder has often end up in trouble.

This is a tragic event and I am bringing this up as attempt to learn from it as it seems to be a case of a very new owner. The FAA and the NTSB are aware of this problem and that it does not bode well for the public image of GA in general and homebuilt in particular.

[rwaltman]

... Looks like it was just sold and the paperwork hadn't gone through yet for the new owner.

That's not the way I read a "sale reported / certification terminated" record.
If the new owner sends the FAA the transfer of ownership card, that should trigger a simple database update. The data is updated at midnight, so one day the previous owner is listed, the following day the new one is.
That suggests to me other things, but better not to speculate.

Roberto.

[Timberwolf]

Roberto, you're absolutely correct. I overlooked that detail.

[avidflyer]

Couple of months ago, I bought an Avid MK IV. I made a small mistake on the registration that I sent to the FAA and when you would look up the plane by N #, that is what would show up. (sale reported, cert terminated) That is what showed up for over a month. I sent in the corrected form and eventually the FAA prossesed the paperwork and now it is all in order. My point being, sometimes it takes a while to get the paperwork straightenout and nothing major is really amiss. Take care, Jim Chuk