Accident Details
Probable Cause and Findings
the pilot's premature liftoff which resulted in an inadvertent stall and a subsequent collision with trees.
Aircraft Information
Registered Owner (Historical)
Analysis
On July 18, 1995, at 2030 eastern daylight time, a Beech V35B, N11JK, sustained substantial damage when it collided with a tree during the takeoff from a private airport in Goshen, Ohio. The commercial pilot and one passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the flight conducted under 14 CFR Part 91.
The pilot initiated the takeoff on runway 06, which was a grass runway, 1640 feet long. In a statement taken by the Ohio state highway patrol, the pilot stated:
...We had landed and were starting to leave and started to taxi. We were at the very end of the field, and I gave it full throttle and started down the runway. We lifted off and then came back down and then lifted off again....[The airplane] started to veer to the left, so I gave it right rudder and that's when I clipped the trees and came to rest on the other side of the tree line....
The pilot rated passenger stated:
...When we had approximately 50 knots, I encouraged the pilot to lift the nosewheel clear of the ground. He did this. It dropped back immediately making contact with the ground, once more bouncing clear. The plane skipped into the air, the nose dropped again, a bit quicker. It bounced up again as the pilot applied back pressure and we were airborne. The stall warning horn began blaring....We made ground contact, and once again the nose bounced upward with an apparent addition of back pressure by the pilot. We were airborne in a nose high attitude with about 500 to 600 feet of runway remaining...the left wing dropped....[The pilot]...applied full right rudder. The wing lifted, the nose remained high....The left wing made contact with...shrubs...to the left...of the runway....
The FAA Inspector reported, "The pilot...stated...that the aircraft failed to reach flying speed and that he tried to pull the aircraft off the ground prior to reaching the end of the runway."
Additionally, the pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airframe or engine, and that the winds were calm at the time of the accident.
Data Source
Data provided by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). For more information on this event, visit the NTSB Records Search website. NTSB# NYC95LA166