N112ND

On October 24, 2004, about 0820 eastern daylight time, a Rockwell 112A, N112ND, registered to and operated by a private individual, as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight, overran runway 03 and crashed into the water during an aborted takeoff at the Peter O'Knight Airport, Tampa, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and no flight plan was filed. The private-rated pilot and one passenger received no injuries, and the airplane incurred substantial damage. The flight was originating at the time of the accident.

The pilot stated the preflight, start, taxi, and run-up, were conducted in accordance with the aircraft checklist prior to the takeoff roll. Upon reaching the rotation speed, backpressure was applied to the control yoke when the airplane failed to respond to the control inputs, she made the decision to abort the takeoff. During the aborted takeoff the airplane traveled off the paved runway surface. Upon contact with the grass at the end of runway 03 the airplane skid sideways towards the seawall. The airplane went over the seawall, and became submerged in the water.

The non-pilot passenger stated she was seated to the right of the pilot at the time of accident. The pilot tried to stop, but the airplane skidded off the runway and over the seawall. She and the pilot exited the airplane without assistance.

A witness stated to the local police that she was driving northeast on Davis boulevard paralleling runway 03 at the Peter O'Knight Airport, when she observed the accident airplane on the takeoff roll. She observed the airplane going "very fast" down the runway. Past the point she thought it should takeoff, it veered to the right, traveled off the runway and went into the water. She was unsure if the airplanes nose rose off the ground or not. She stated she never heard the engine turn off.

The FAA inspector who responded to the accident scene stated that during the post accident examination he made several findings, the left wing was bent upward approximately 3 1/2 feet from the wingtip. Damage to both propeller blades and the underside of the cowling. The left main landing gear was sheered, the right main gear had extensive damage, and the nose wheel was bent. The throttle was 3/4 open, the fuel mixture and propeller controls were found in the forward takeoff position, and the trim was set slightly nose down from the neutral position. The flap indicator on the instrument panel was positioned near the zero-degree mark. The flight controls were checked and they operated normal with no binding. At the time the airplane was pulled from the water the flap configuration was not at the required 10-degrees for normal takeoff. The 112A flight manual requires the pilot to use 10-degrees of flaps for normal takeoff. The aircraft was departing from runway 03, a published 3,400-foot-long runway.