Piper PA28 — San Antonio, TX

What happened

The pilot, a flight instructor who operated a business at the airport, was taking the two passengers on a local discovery flight to see if they wanted to pursue flight lessons. After takeoff, the pilot was unable to climb the airplane above the tall trees at the end of the runway, obstacles he was likely aware of due to his familiarity with the airport. Airport surveillance video showed that the airplane lifted off after a 1,700-ft-long ground roll and was in a nose-high attitude but not climbing and headed toward the trees, after which the airplane was out of the camera’s view. The airplane impacted trees and terrain about 2,400 ft from the departure end of the runway and was destroyed by impact damage and a postimpact fire.

A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no anomalies that would have precluded normal operation of the airplane. A weight and balance calculation for the accident flight showed that the airplane was operating about 73 lbs over its maximum gross weight of 2,150 lbs. The pilot elected to depart on a runway with a gusty tailwind component of 4 to 7 knots. The airplane’s observed takeoff ground roll of 1,700 ft was 50% longer than the 1,125 ft ground roll predicted by the airplane’s performance charts for a no-wind takeoff at gross weight, indicating that the over gross weight condition and the tail wind significantly degraded the airplane’s performance. It is likely that the pilot’s decision to take off with the airplane over maximum gross weight and a gusty tailwind prevented the airplane from climbing or maintaining altitude.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.