Incident Overview
A private pilot experienced an accident after confusing a taxiway for a runway during a night departure. The pilot had landed earlier in daylight, taxied to a fixed base operator, and shut down the engine. Approximately 40 minutes later, he restarted the engine and began taxiing for departure from runway 27. This was his first time at the airport; he had landed during daylight and was now taxiing for takeoff in darkness.
Sequence of Events
Air traffic control cleared the pilot to hold short of runway 27, and subsequently cleared him for takeoff. The pilot-in-command turned right, placing his aircraft on a parallel taxiway that leads to runway 27. He immediately advanced to full power, unaware that he was on the taxiway and not on the runway. The tower controller made several attempts to stop the pilot before the airplane crossed the approach end of runway 27. After departing the hard surface, the airplane entered a grassy area, went down a 40-foot drop-off, and came to rest inverted.
Pilot Background
The pilot received his private pilot rating in April 2001. He had accumulated a total of 117 hours in all aircraft, including 8 hours of night operations. He admitted to having erred in judgment, causing the accident.