Beech A36 — Redding, CA

What happened

The pilot and three passengers were departing from a 2,420-ft-long runway when the accident occurred. A witness reported that the airplane appeared to be accelerating slowly, and that it suddenly rotated and appeared to lift off slightly before settling back to the ground, which caused the nosewheel to come back down to the runway surface. The airplane rotated abruptly a second time and remained in a nose-high attitude while approaching the departure end of the runway. The witness estimated the airplane’s speed as about 60 to 65 knots as it passed his location in a nose-high attitude. The witness added that, throughout the takeoff roll, the “engine sounded like it was producing full power and the propeller was producing full rpm.”

Review of security camera recordings revealed that the airplane appeared to rotate about 700 ft from the departure end of the runway and remain in a nose-high attitude. The airplane briefly became airborne about 300 ft from the departure end of the runway and remained in a nose-high attitude before it settled back onto the runway surface about 2 seconds later and continued off the departure end of the runway: a post-impact fire ensued.

Postaccident examination of the airplane revealed no evidence of any preexisting mechanical malfunction that would have precluded normal operation. A review of weight and balance information indicated that the airplane was about 23 lbs under its maximum gross weight at the time of the accident. Depending on the passenger seating configuration, which could not be determined, the airplane could have been within its center of gravity (CG) limitations or up to about 2 inches forward or about 1.75 inches aft of the CG envelope limit.

Calculated takeoff performance for an airplane within the CG envelope given the atmospheric conditions and gross weight at the time of the accident showed that the airplane would have required 1,978 ft for a no-flap takeoff with no obstacle, or 3,558 ft for a no-flap takeoff to clear a 50-ft obstacle if takeoff power was applied prior to brake release. The extent of the pilot’s preflight takeoff performance planning and his takeoff technique could not be determined based on the available information.

The circumstances of the accident are consistent with the pilot’s failure to recognize the airplane’s inadequate takeoff performance given the length of the available runway and his subsequent failure to abort the takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion.

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