Incident Sequence
According to the report, the aircraft collided with trees during takeoff. The CFI and student had made a landing on a runway that was two-thirds covered with snow. They believed they could perform a short field landing and a short field running takeoff. During the attempted takeoff, the aircraft nosed down in the snow. Assessing the damage as minor, they restarted the aircraft after pushing it out of the snow.
A subsequent takeoff from the cleared one-third of the runway toward the snow resulted in an abort in the snow. They then decided to take off from the snow-covered area toward the cleared end of the runway. This left no room for an abort. Once airborne, using flaps but out of ground effect, the aircraft settled into the trees.
Runway Conditions
The airport is closed by snow in winter months with no snow removal plans, and this is noted in the Guide to Airports. The area cleared by the wind and used by this flight was approximately 750 feet long.
Damage Assessment
The damage from the initial nosing down in the snow was assessed as minor.