Event ERA25FA202

Factual narrative

On May 16, 2025, about 1642 eastern daylight time, an experimental, amateur-built Chinook Plus 2, N3300K, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Pittstown, NJ. The private pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight. A witness at the airport was a friend of the accident pilot and was standing near his hangar at the time of the accident takeoff. He stated that the pilot had been training in a Piper J3, but did not have any flight experience in the make and model accident airplane. He further stated that the takeoff was the pilot’s first flight in the airplane. Just prior to the takeoff, the pilot performed either a takeoff attempt or a high-speed taxi on runway 26. During that run, the pilot lost control of the airplane and it ground looped on grass off the left side of the runway, but did not sustain damage. The pilot then taxied back to the beginning of runway 26 and performed the accident takeoff. During the takeoff, the airplane traveled on the ground about halfway down the 2,550-ft-long asphalt runway, which was much more than is required for liftoff. The airplane drifted left again, struck and severed a runway light with its left wing strut. The pilot continued the takeoff, climbed, and performed two orbits around the airport, before descending vertically to the accident site. The wreckage came to inverted in a wooded area about 1/2-mile north of the airport, oriented on a magnetic heading of 135°. A postcrash fire had consumed a majority of the wreckage. All four corners of the airplane were identified, and no debris path was observed. One treetop near the wreckage had been severed. The empennage remained partially intact and crushed, with the rudder and elevator remaining attached. Flight control continuity for the elevator and rudder were confirmed from the control surfaces to the cockpit area, which had been consumed by fire, and cable breaks exhibited broomstraw features. The left wing had been consumed by fire and the frame was resting vertically against a tree. The right wing remained intact and inverted. Both ailerons remained attached to their respective wing. The aileron control cables had been pulled from both wings and were not identified. Review of the airframe and engine lookbook revealed that the pilot completed assembly of the airplane from a kit in 2025 and it was issued an experimental airworthiness certificate on April 29, 2025. The airplane was equipped with a Rotax 912, 80-hp engine, driving a GCS Systems three-blade wooden propeller. As of an engine logbook entry dated December 12, 2024, the engine had accrued 11.5 hours since new, consistent with ground runs. The engine came to rest inverted and remained intact. All three propeller blades remained attached to the hub. Two blades were undamaged, and one was partially separated and remained buried in the ground. The crankshaft was not seized and could be rotated 45° in each direction, with restriction due to the propeller blade buried in the ground. Review of the private pilot’s logbook revealed that he had accrued 443 total hours of flight experience, with his last flight on May 11, 2025, in a Piper J3. There was no record of any flight experience in the make and model accident airplane. The wreckage was retained for further examination. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12