Arlington Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Arlington, Texas 76018
Friday, June 26, 1987 20:05 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

THIS WAS THE FIRST FLIGHT FOR THE 156 HOUR PRIVATE PILOT IN THIS MAKE AND MODEL AIRPLANE, HOWEVER, HE HAD PREVIOUSLY MADE SEVERAL HIGH SPEED TAXI RUNS IN IT. ACCORDING TO WITNESSES, THE PILOT USED ONLY ABOUT HALF THROTTLE FOR THE ATTEMPTED TAKEOFF. THE AIRCRAFT REPORTEDLY SHOULD HAVE LIFTED OFF WITHIN 300 FEET, BUT INSTEAD, IT FAILED TO BREAK GROUND UNTIL IT WAS ABOUT 2,000 FEET DOWN THE RUNWAY. IT CLIMBED TO ABOUT 50 FEET AGL AND THEN THE NOSE PITCHED UP TO ABOUT A 20 DEGREE ATTITUDE AND THE AIRSPEED DROPPED TO ABOUT 30 MPH OR LESS. IT THEN STALLED AND ROLLED SHARPLY LEFT AND WENT INVERTED. THE AIRCRAFT THEN ENTERED A NEAR VERTICAL NOSE DOWN ATTITUDE WHICH WAS MAINTAINED UNTIL GROUND IMPACT OCCURRED. POSTACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF AIRCRAFT, ENGINE, OR SYSTEM FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION. LIKEWISE, THE PATHOLOGICAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE PILOT REVEALED NO SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 6/26/1987
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2005
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City ARLINGTON
Event State TEXAS
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 76018
Event Date Year 1987
Event Date Month 6
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude
Event Location Longitude
Event Location Airport ARLINGTON
Event Location Nearest Airport ID F54
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport On Airport
Distance from airport in statute miles 0
Degrees magnetic from airport 0
Airport Elevation 630
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 2150 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 50
Weather Observation Facility ID NBE
Elevation of weather observation facility 491
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 8
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 25000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 0
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Broken
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) 0
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) 0
Visibility (Statute Miles) 15
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 30
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 13
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 50
Variable Wind Indicator Unknown
Wind Speed (knots) 10
Wind Velocity Indicator Unknown
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation Unknown
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Fatal
On Ground, Fatal Injuries 0
On Ground, Minor Injuries 0
On Ground, Serious Injuries 0
Injury Total Fatal 2
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency FAA
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 2180
NTSB Notification Source --
NTSB Notification Date Jun 26 1987 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 2015
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information 35657
Date of most recent change to record Dec 13 2000 2:28PM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office --

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N172SL
NTSB Number FTW87DPA03
Missing Aircraft Indicator N
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name ROLLINS
Aircraft Model STARLITE
Aircraft Series Identifier STARLITE
Aircraft Serial Number 172
Certified Max Gross Weight 500
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil
Aircraft is a homebuilt? Yes
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft 1
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Unknown
Date of Last Inspection Jun 8 1987 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 10
Airframe Hours 56
ELT Installed No
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name KENNY J. ROLLINS
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4614 ZANAS
Aircraft Owner City GRAND PRAIRIE
Aircraft Owner State TX
Aircraft Owner Country
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 75052
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name ALTON R.ROLLINS
Operator Same as Owner? No
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address 1821 ABILENE CT.
Operator City GRAND PRAIRIE
Operator State TX
Operator Country
Operator Zip code 75052
Operator Code
Owner has at least one certificate None
Other Operator of large aircraft? No
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation Unknown
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event Yes
Departure Airport Code
Departure City
Departure State
Departure Country
Departure Time 2000
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere
Destination Airport Code
Destination City
Destination State
Destination Country
Specific Phase of Flight Descent
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Jan 2 2001 10:35AM
User who most recently changed record dbo
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location 34
Runway Length 4000
Runway Width 100
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --