Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's premature rotation.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The pilot related to a FAA inspector that he made a 'rolling takeoff,' slowly increasing power to full throttle. When the airplane attained an indicated airspeed of 60 knots, he felt the airplane was not accelerating rapidly enough and he aborted the takeoff. He applied maximum braking and the right main tire blew out. The airplane went off the end of the runway, across the runway overrun, went down an embankment, and collided with a ditch. In his written statement, he reported that after takeoff the airplane 'had insufficient power to leave ground effect.' he also indicated that there were no mechanical malfunctions.
Source record
Factual narrative
On February 6, 1995, approximately 1330 mountain standard time, a Cessna 172M, N80893, was substantially damaged during an aborted takeoff at Boulder, Colorado. The private pilot was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. The pilot reported the following information to a Federal Aviation Administration inspector. He made a "rolling takeoff" on the 4100 foot runway, slowly increasing power to full throttle. When the airplane attained an indicated airspeed of 60 knots, he felt the airplane was not accelerating rapidly enough and he aborted the takeoff. He applied maximum braking and the right main tire blew out. The airplane went off the end of the runway, across the runway overrun, down an embankment, and collided with a ditch. The right main landing gear and engine were torn off the airplane. Witness reports corroborated this account. In his pilot/operator report, the pilot said that "after normal rotation, the plane had insufficient power to leave ground effect." In that same report, he also indicated that there were no mechanical malfunctions. -