Grumman American Avn. Corp. AA-1B N1608R accident near Lawrence, Massachusetts

Probable cause

The pilot's delayed decision to abort the takeoff, which resulted in a runway excursion.

NTSB analysis

After flying for about 40 minutes without incident, the pilot returned to the departure airport to practice touch-and-go landings and takeoffs. The pilot stated that she landed on the 3,900-foot-long runway as she normally did for a full-stop landing. She retracted the flaps, adjusted the trim, and advanced the throttle. As the airplane lifted off the ground, the pilot became concerned that it was too far down the runway and too close to the ground to clear trees that were located beyond the departure end of the runway. She elected to abort the takeoff and was not able to stop the airplane on the remaining runway. The airplane departed the end of the runway, rolled through grass, down an embankment, and nosed over. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its empennage. The pilot reported that the airplane did not experience any mechanical malfunctions or failures during the accident. She further stated that she may have taken too much time to transition the airplane for takeoff after landing and also thought that if she had committed to the takeoff, the airplane would have adequately cleared the trees.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA12CA377 for the full record.