Cessna 172M N80849 accident near Leavenworth, Washington

Probable cause

The pilot's inadequate preflight planning and failure to attain a sufficient airspeed to continue the takeoff. A contributing factor was the high density altitude and short runway.

NTSB analysis

The airplane gained speed slowly and halfway down the runway lifted off in ground effect. The pilot noted the airspeed was about 50 knots. When the pilot realized that the airplane was not going to clear obstacles at the end of the runway, she aborted the takeoff and decided to land the airplane on the remaining runway. The airplane overran the end of the runway, traveled downhill, struck a pile of wood, nosed over and came to rest inverted. The pilot had configured the airplane for a short field takeoff with 10 degrees of flaps. The pilot had been to the airport before and had taken summer mountain flying courses. She stated that she over estimated the capabilities of the airplane under the existing altitude, runway conditions, and height of the trees at the end of the runway. The airport elevation was 1,939 feet. The closest weather reporting station indicated that the temperature was 28 degrees Celsius, and the density altitude was calculated to be 3,186 feet.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for LAX08CA234 for the full record.