N8450Z – CESSNA 210-5 – 2012-07-02 NTSB Accident Report

On July 02, 2012, a Cessna 210-5 (N8450Z) was involved in an accident near West Glacier, MT. The accident resulted in 2 minor injuries. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this accident to be: The pilot elected to abort the takeoff without sufficient runway available to land and stop the airplane. Contributing to the accident was the illusion created by the rising terrain, which influenced the pilot's decision to abort the takeoff.

The pilot reported that the airplane accelerated normally on the takeoff roll, became airborne between 1,000 and 1,200 feet down the 2,500-foot runway, had a positive rate of climb, but wasn’t climbing as he would have expected. The pilot elected to abort the takeoff and reduced power, but then realized that he did not have enough runway remaining to land. As the pilot was adding power to abort the landing the airplane contacted the ground, departed the runway and came to rest about one-quarter mile beyond the end of the runway after colliding with a log. The pilot stated that he felt the optical illusion of rising terrain and a rising runway caused him to feel that the airplane was not climbing adequately.

This accident is documented in NTSB report WPR12CA284. AviatorDB cross-references NTSB investigation data with FAA registry records to provide comprehensive safety information for aircraft N8450Z.