Cessna 140 N2011N accident near Madison, South Dakota

Probable cause

The flight instructor’s delayed aborted takeoff on a soft, wet, grass runway, which resulted in a runway overrun.

NTSB analysis

The flight instructor, acting as a safety pilot, in the tailwheel-equipped airplane reported that, to expedite takeoff, he decided to take off from the grass runway instead of the concrete runway. He added that, about midway into the soft-field takeoff roll, he observed that the airplane was "struggling to build airspeed." He added that the runway had previously thawed and was "wet spongy sod." He reduced power and began to apply the brakes to abort the takeoff, but the airplane overran the runway, impacted a snow bank, and nosed over.

The airplane sustained substantial damage to the fuselage.

The flight instructor reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for GAA18CA166 for the full record.