Kit Planes Found to Crash, Kill More Than Factory Craft

Private planes assembled from kits have been involved in more crashes and deaths than other small aircraft because pilots are often ill-prepared to fly them, a U.S. safety study found.

Planes like those that Micron Technology Inc. Chief Executive Officer Steve Appleton and singer John Denver were piloting when they died are more than three times more likely to be in a fatal accident, the National Transportation Safety Board said today. Ten of 102 accidents in home-built planes last year occurred the first time a pilot flew them.