Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Crestview Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Crestview, Florida 32539
Wednesday, August 9, 2006 18:30 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The private certificated pilot, with one passenger, began to taxi down a runway in a tailwheel-equipped, amateur built experimental airplane during a Title 14, CFR Part 91 flight. The pilot said he only intended to taxi the airplane, and lift off to about 2 inches, but when he applied aft control pressure at 30 mph, it lifted off to about 50 feet and began to turn left. The pilot indicated he applied right aileron and right rudder to correct the turn, but no change in direction occurred. He then pulled the control stick aft to gain altitude. The airplane climbed to 160 feet before descending into trees and a power line, still in a left turn. A postcrash fire erupted after impact. The pilot and passenger exited the inverted airplane, and the fire destroyed all aircraft records. In the Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report (NTSB Form 6120.1/2) submitted by the pilot, the pilot indicated that the airplane did not have a mechanical malfunction/failure. The pilot said he received 1 hour of instruction in the airplane, but did not have a tailwheel endorsement. An FAA inspector examined the airplane at the crash scene and reported that all flight controls were connected, with the exception of a broken left rudder cable. About 1/2 of the cable strands had a broom-straw appearance. The airplane's former owner, a certificated mechanic who owned the airplane for 2 months and had flown it once, reported that the airplane only weighed 950 pounds, and was equipped with a 150 horsepower engine for good short takeoff and landing capabilities. The mechanic reported that the day before the accident, in response to a call from the pilot, he removed a wasp from the pitot tube, and inspected the tailwheel assembly, which functioned properly. At that time, the mechanic said he warned that pilot about the torque produced by the large engine, and adverse yaw at slow speeds.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to correct for torque/p-factor during takeoff initial climb, which resulted in a loss of control and a collision with trees and a power line. Factors contributing to the accident were the pilot's lack of familiarity with the airplane, and his inadvertent lift-off.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/9/2006 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1830 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Crestview |
| Event State | FLORIDA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 32539 |
| Event Date Year | 2006 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 304642N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0863132W |
| Event Location Airport | Crestview |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KCEW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.25 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 210 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 33 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 170 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 6 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 21402 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 9 2006 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 29 2007 12:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\lema |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-Birmingham FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N333PT |
| NTSB Number | ANC06LA113 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Seales |
| Aircraft Model | Protech PT-2B |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | PT1003 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1550 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | Yes |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Conditional |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 1 2006 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 1 |
| Airframe Hours | 528 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Ronald E. Alter |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | Crestview |
| Aircraft Owner State | FL |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 32539 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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 | KCEW |
| Departure City | Crestview |
| Departure State | FL |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1830 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| 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 | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 13 2007 1:38AM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 17 |
| Runway Length | 8005 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |