What happened
Following a day of skiing, the pilot and passengers prepared for a return flight to San Diego. Weather conditions at the departure airport included winds from 210 to 220 degrees at approximately 10 mph. Low clouds were approaching from the west, where visibility was near zero. Consequently, the pilot elected to take off on runway 7, as visibility to the east was approximately two miles.
The aircraft traveled about 2500 feet along the runway and accelerated to 55 mph before rotation. Shortly after rotating for takeoff, the aircraft veered to the left, overran the edge of the runway, and collided with a snow bank. The airport elevation was 6750 feet.
The investigation
No pre-accident part failure or malfunction was reported. The investigation focused on the operational decisions made during the takeoff roll in low visibility conditions.