Primary finding
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to perform any preflight planning or preparation and selected the wrong runway. Factors relating to this accident was the existing tailwind, high density altitude.
Investigator assessment
Analysis narrative
The private pilot took off from an upslope runway with a 4 knot tailwind with a heavily loaded airplane. The aircraft used all but a 100 feet of the runway to lift off. The aircraft failed to climb after it lifted off and collided with a large fir tree about a quarter of a mile from the departure end of the runway. Examination of the wreckage disclosed no evidence of any preexisting malfunctions or failures. Investigators found the throttle in the full power position and the mixture control in the full rich position. The density altitude was 5,900 feet mean sea level and the runway's gradient was a plus 1.11 percent.
Source record
Factual narrative
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