What happened
During a takeoff roll on runway 1L, which measured 6,700 feet by 100 feet and consisted of dry grooved concrete, the airplane veered toward the left. This deviation occurred at approximately 60 knots when the pilot deselected the nose wheel steering. At the time of the event, the airport's automated surface observing system recorded a wind from 050 degrees at 10 knots. The incident resulted in substantial damage to the aircraft.
The investigation
An examination of the aircraft revealed that the cockpit control and the trailing edge flaps were set to the 1/2 flap position. Regarding the engine components, two of the start locks on the left propeller were engaged, while the third start lock was found to be damaged. On the right propeller, two start locks were not engaged, and the remaining start lock cam exhibited a witness mark located prior to the locking point of the cam.
Findings
The aircraft's checklist requires that flaps be in the retracted position and engine start locks be disengaged before takeoff. Additionally, the airplane flight manual lacks performance data for takeoff configurations utilizing 1/2 flaps.