What happened
During a departure from runway 15 at an airport featuring a 3,000-foot by 60-foot gravel surface runway, a Cessna (type not specified) failed to lift off. Approximately 1,800 feet into the takeoff run, at an indicated airspeed of about 65 knots, the pilot raised the nose; however, the aircraft did not become airborne. The pilot subsequently aborted the takeoff and applied the brakes, but the aircraft exited the end of the runway and entered an area of marshy tussock grass. The aircraft came to rest approximately 75 feet beyond the departure end of the runway, at which point the nose gear strut collapsed. There were no injuries reported.
The investigation
The pilot noted that after leaving the aircraft to contact company operations, he observed the wind favoring runway 33, but upon returning to the aircraft, the wind favored runway 15 again. Prior to the takeoff attempt, the pilot had selected 10 degrees of flaps. However, following the accident, it was discovered that the flaps were only deployed to approximately 3 or 4 degrees of travel, despite the flap indicator remaining set at 10 degrees. The pilot reported that he had moved the flap lever up and down several times during the pre-takeoff sequence, only achieving a 10-degree setting after first moving the lever to a 20-degree setting.
Findings
While the pilot's written report stated the aircraft did not have any mechanical malfunction, the investigation identified an incomplete flap deployment despite the cockpit indicator showing the intended setting.
Safety message
The pilot noted that he could have visually verified the actual flap setting before takeoff.