Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
the pilot's premature liftoff.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On September 8, 1994, about 1700 central daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140 airplane, N4188Q, sustained substantial damage during an attempted takeoff from the Bed-Ah-Wick Airport, Princeton, Wisconsin. The private pilot and one passenger received minor injury, the remaining passenger reported no injury. The local pleasure flight operated under 14 CFR Part 91 in visual meteorological conditions without a flight plan.
The pilot wrote in his report to the NTSB that he lifted off about 800' feet from the end of runway 36 (2,500', turf, soft), but was unable to climb higher than 40' above the ground before the stall warning came on. He said that he was unable to maintain altitude, and descended over a brushy swamp where the airplane's left wing struck a small tree and subsequently crashed. In the Recommendation section of the NTSB report (How could this accident have been prevented), the pilot wrote: "More power-less weight."
No preimpact mechanical anomaly with the airplane was discovered during a postaccident inspection, and none was claimed by the pilot.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# CHI94LA317