With one passenger and a pilot onboard a Cessna 510 Citation Mustang was going to be operated for a private flight in the state of California (USA) from El Monte-San Gabriel Valley Airport to Thermal Airport. After the passenger had boarded and the engines were started the aircraft taxied out to runway o1 for take-off.
The aircraft in its final position (Source: baaa-acro.com © Chris & Anita)
The weather was good as the aircraft approached the runway, VFR conditions;
Wind 150º at 3 knots
Clouds None
Visibility 10 miles
Temperature 28ºC
Dew point 17ºC
QNH 29.94 inHg / 1014 hPa
Upon reaching the runway the aircraft was stopped short and the parking brake was set as the pilot awaited the take-off clearance. When the take-off clearance was received the pilot reached down to the parking brake handle and quickly pushed in the parking brake handle. The aircraft slowly entered the runway and the throttles were forwarded to the take-off position. As the aircraft rolled down the runway the pilot became aware of a slower than anticipated acceleration and at a speed of 70 knots, the acceleration was close to nothing. Realising it would be impossible to obtain the correct speed for take-off the pilot decided to abort the take-off. As the take-off was aborted the aircraft veered to the left, leaving the paved runway surface. All gears were torn from the aircraft and it slid through the crash, impacting the airport perimeter fence and coming to a stop 800 feet (~240 meters) from the departure end of runway 01. Both the occupants evacuated the aircraft without injury. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair.
The aircraft in its final position (Source: baaa-acro.com © Chris & Anita)
An investigation was launched by the National Transportation Safety Bureau (NTSB). The airplane was examined by an inspector of the Federal Aviation Administration. He reported:
The airplane came to a rest in an upright position at the airport perimeter fence
Fuselage structurally damaged
Both wings were structurally damaged
The parking brake handle was partly extended
in the NTSB report the following statement, by the pilot, regarding the parking brake was given;
"The pilot stated that he must not have pushed the parking brake handle all the way in and that he never visually verified its position before takeoff. The pilot further reported that there were no mechanical issues with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation."
The NTSB identified the following probable cause of this accident to be;
"The pilot's failure to disengage the parking brake before takeoff, which resulted in decreased acceleration and a subsequent runway overrun following an aborted takeoff."
The aircraft in its final position (Source: public domain © Unknown)
The NTSB report, on which this blog is based. is available for the readers' reference by clicking on the .pdf file below;