Tingle SPECIAL N660T

Summary

On 19 November 2005 at about 16:20 local time, a Tingle SPECIAL registered N660T, operated by Thomas H. Tingle, was involved in an accident near Tucson, Arizona, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 November 2005 at 16:20

Classification

Accident

Location

Tucson, Arizona, United States

Nearest airport

La Cholla Airpark (57AZ)

Coordinates

32.4467, -111.0028

Aircraft

Tingle SPECIAL

Registration

N660T

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Thomas H. Tingle

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Tucson → Carefree

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX06LA041

2 people died.

The pilot's excessive use of power during takeoff, which resulted in an inadvertent torque roll shortly after lift off. Also causal was the pilot's failure to abort the takeoff when directional control could not be maintained during the takeoff roll.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane entered a torque roll to the left during the initial climb shortly after takeoff. Numerous pilot witnesses observed the composite airplane on takeoff roll when the airplane began to drift to the left of centerline. Some observed dust below the left wing from the left main landing gear tire rolling in the dirt. The airplane lifted off the ground in a nose high pitch attitude and rolled 90 degrees to the left in a knife-edge turn. The airplane then continued to an inverted position, descended at a 45-degree nose low pitch attitude, and impacted the ground. All of the witnesses indicated that the engine seemed to be at full power during the entire event. Measurements of tire marks on the runway and tire tracks in the dirt to the east of the runway, indicated that the pilot continued with the takeoff roll even though the airplane was well east of the runway centerline and even departed the runway surface to the east. According to the airplane kit manufacturer, takeoffs with more than 70 percent torque were not recommended until the airplane reached 100 knots indicated airspeed. The kit manufacturer added that if one were to takeoff with more than 70-percent torque, below 100 knots, there would not be enough rudder authority to offset the torque/p-factor of the 725-horsepower engine/propeller. There was no record in the FAA database of the airplane receiving an experimental airworthiness certificate nor was there an endorsement in the logbook indicating that the pilot/builder had flown the requisite 40 hours of test flights prior to carrying passengers. The airplane was destroyed by impact and fire damage. The FAA inspector who responded to the accident site reported finding no anomalies with the identifiable components that would have prevented normal flight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.