N9148

On August 24, 1993, at approximately 1250 Pacific daylight time (PDT), a Piper PA-28-235, N9148, collided with the terrain after running off the end of the runway at Evergreen Sky Ranch, Enumclaw, Washington. The FAA certificated private pilot and one of her passengers were not injured. The other passenger received minor injuries, and the aircraft was destroyed. The personal pleasure flight, which was departing in visual meteorological conditions, was not on a flight plan, and there was no report of an ELT transmission.

The pilot, who was attempting a takeoff on the uphill portion of a wet grassy airstrip, said that the aircraft settled back to the runway after liftoff. The aircraft became airborne a second time, but the pilot elected to abort the takeoff because she sensed the aircraft was not climbing as quickly as she had expected, and she was not sure that it would clear the trees off the end of the runway. During her attempt to stop on the remaining runway, the aircraft exited the end of the runway, crossed a road, impacted nearby vegetation, and caught fire.

The private airstrip from which the pilot was attempting to depart is approximately 15 feet higher at its mid-point than at either end, and therefore necessitates an uphill takeoff from either direction. The aircraft did not touch down during the abort until after passing this mid-point "crown," and therefore the pilot was attempting to stop on the downhill portion of the airstrip.