N11177

On April 9, 2005, at 0945 central daylight time, a Champion 7ECA, N11177, piloted by a private pilot, was substantially damaged when it impacted a road embankment during an aborted takeoff at a private airstrip near Mexico, Missouri. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The personal flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 without a flight plan. The pilot and his passenger were not injured. The local area flight was originating at the time of the accident.

The pilot reported that before he boarded the airplane he noticed the wind was "coming from approximately 200 degrees at 10 [knots]." The private airstrip consisted of a grass/turf, 1,300 foot long, north/south runway. The pilot stated that his intention was to depart from runway 18, but "because of distraction or whatever" he taxied to runway 36 and initiated the takeoff.

The pilot reported, "I knew that I should be airborne or feeling very light by the time that I got to a bump about [halfway] down the runway from either direction. When I got to the bump without the tail coming up and with an indicated airspeed of about 35 mph I knew that something was seriously wrong and knew instantly what the problem was. I was taking-off with the wind."

The pilot reported that he aborted the takeoff by reducing engine power to idle and braking. The pilot stated that the grass runway was wet with dew and the aircraft overran the end of the runway, impacting a road embankment.