Loss of Control in Flight · NTSB CEN17FA152
TEMCO GC 1B — Hartsville, IN
| Date | April 12, 2017 |
| Location | Hartsville, IN |
| Aircraft | TEMCO GC 1B |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Visual Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Uncontrolled descent Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 77 |
| Pilot total time | 1,397 hrs · Experienced |
| Time in type | 64 hrs |
| Fatalities | 1 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
- Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Angle of attack-Not attained/maintained - C
What happened
The accident pilot and a friend flew in the friend's airplane to pick up the accident airplane after recent repairs were completed due to a previous ground loop event in 2016. The accident pilot's friend and the mechanic observed the airplane during the takeoff. The airplane accelerated straight and normal and flew "cleanly" off the turf runway. Shortly after rotation, the airplane rolled left until the airplane impacted trees in a near inverted attitude adjacent to the runway. The mechanic stated that he thought the airplane experienced a departure stall during the takeoff. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. The witness observations are consistent with the pilot's loss of control after exceeding the airplane's critical angle of attack during takeoff, which resulted in a power-on, aerodynamic departure stall.