Beech 23 N2378Z accident near Hutchinson, Kansas

Probable cause

The pilot’s failure to abort the takeoff and his high pitch attitude after takeoff, which resulted in an exceedance of the critical angle of attack and a subsequent aerodynamic stall.

NTSB analysis

The pilot stated that during takeoff on the 4,012-ft-long runway, the airplane seemed to accelerate slowly and use a greater amount of runway than normal. After liftoff, the airplane would not accelerate and climbed very slowly. The pilot turned the airplane toward the right, and it began to lose altitude. The airspeed decreased, and the airplane stalled about 20 to 30 ft above the ground. The airplane then impacted the ground.

Postaccident examination of the airplane and engine did not reveal any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. Takeoff performance data from the airplane’s flight manual showed that the airplane should have been about 50 ft above the ground when it was 2,281 ft down the runway. Given the length of the runway, the pilot had the opportunity to safely abort the takeoff when he realized that the airplane was not accelerating normally and not achieving its expected takeoff performance. However, the pilot continued the takeoff and likely raised the nose of the airplane to a high pitch and high drag attitude in an attempt to gain altitude. The high pitch attitude placed the airplane close to the critical angle of attack, and when the airplane entered a turn, it experienced an aerodynamic stall and descended to ground impact.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for CEN21LA208 for the full record.