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August 4, 2013 - The NTSB has ruled that pilot,
Todd Parfitt, 50, lacked recent flight
experience which lead to his death and the death
of his daughter, Nicole Parfitt, 14, after their
aircraft entered into an accelerated stall and
then crashed west of Burlington Municipal
Airport, Wisconsin in a Grumman AA-1B, N6273L
last November.
On November 18, 2012, 1:30 PM, Parfitt who had
been employed as a dispatcher for United
Airlines was approaching Burlington Municipal
airport from the southwest to land on runway 11.
At or about that time, a pilot of another
aircraft reported on the common traffic advisory
frequency (CTAF) that he was departing the
airport on runway 29.
A witness said he saw Parfitt in a steep descent
with a slight left turn. A few moments later he
saw the aircraft in a tight, right turn that
developed into a spin at which point the Grumman
AA-1B then rapidly descended and then crashed in
a muddy field about quarter mile west southwest
from the threshold of runway 11.
The crash caused a crater which contained the
engine, propeller, and a majority of the cockpit
instrumentation. The main wreckage was two feet
west of the impact crater. Impact signatures
were consistent with a nose-low impact. The
fuselage was torn and broken forward of the
pilot seat. Both wings displayed accordion
crushing.
The right wing fractured from the fuselage at
the wing root. The right aileron and flap
remained attached to the right wing. The
fuselage and empennage were buckled and
distorted. The vertical stabilizer, horizontal
stabilizers, rudder, and elevators were
unremarkable.
Parfitt held a private pilot certificate with a
rating for single-engine land with 290 total
hours, with 7 hours in the preceding six months.
Parfitt had received a Special Restriction third
class medical certificate with the restriction
that it was not valid for any class after July
31, 2013, due to the pilot’s treatment of
psoriatic arthritis.
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