What happened
A pilot and five passengers were attempting to depart from Runway 24 at the airport in Frankfort, Kentucky. During the takeoff roll, witnesses observed the tail of the aircraft dragging along the runway, which produced visible sparks.
As the aircraft became airborne, it maintained a nose-up pitch attitude of approximately 30 degrees, appearing to fly primarily on propeller power. Although the engine was running smoothly at a high RPM, the aircraft began a left turn near the end of the runway. During this maneuver, the aircraft rolled inverted and crashed. There were 6 fatalities resulting from the accident.
Findings
Post-accident weight and balance calculations revealed that the aircraft's center of gravity exceeded the aft limit.