N7118N

On March 22, 1996, at 1246 hours Pacific standard time, a Beech E33A, N7118N, collided with a fence and the ground during takeoff at the Mesquite, Nevada, airport. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot, who was beginning a personal cross-country flight to Denver, Colorado. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. The private pilot and the two passengers onboard sustained minor injuries.

The pilot reported that he was departing on runway 19. Both the pilot and ground witnesses stated that the winds were from 250 degrees at 25 knots with sustained gusts to 35. As the aircraft neared liftoff airspeed, it began to drift to the left. The pilot said he pulled the aircraft off the ground at that point and the left drift increased. The aircraft drifted completely off the runway and the landing gear contacted an airport boundary fence. The aircraft then cartwheeled into an adjoining field.

The crosswind components for the reported steady state and gust values were computed at 23 and 31 knots, respectively. According to the Beech Pilot Operating Handbook for the airplane, the maximum demonstrated crosswind component for the aircraft in takeoffs or landings is 17 knots.