Kolb Company FIRESTAR accident near London, Kentucky, October 16, 1999
On October 16, 1999 at about 1:00 pm local time, a Kolb Company FIRESTAR, registered UNREG, was substantially damaged in an accident near London, Kentucky (London Corbin airport). It was a personal flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The student pilot's inability to maintain control of the airplane after inadvertently allowing it to become airborne. A factor in the accident was his lack of total aviation experience.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- October 16, 1999 · about 1:00 pm local time
- Place
- London, Kentucky · London Corbin · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Kolb Company FIRESTAR
- Registration
- UNREG · no longer on the register · serial F1288
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The student pilot was conducting a high speed taxi run, on a runway, when the airplane unexpectedly became airborne, and climbed to approximately 25 feet agl before stalling. The airplane impacted the ground nose low, right wing-tip first. The student pilot thinks that after the airplane became airborne, he retarded the throttle to idle. He made no mention of any failures or malfunctions with either the airframe or the engine.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: student
- Flight time: 23 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 3 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: unk
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded
- Maximum gross weight: 760 lb
- Seats: 1
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Rotax 503 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: LOZ KY at 12:30 pm
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 23, 6,000 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 52°F (11°C), dew point 50°F (10°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 12:53 pm from LOZ
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under UNREG the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.