What happened
Earlier on the day of the accident, the aircraft had performed a successful aborted takeoff at 139 knots because the flightcrew could not rotate the airplane. That previous flight had carried seven to nine passengers, with the only difference being an additional 3,000 to 4,000 pounds of fuel. Following that event, a maintenance inspection was conducted but found no discrepancies related to rotation issues, and the aircraft was returned to service.
Upon arriving at the airport, the captain was informed of the earlier aborted takeoff. The captain then attempted a takeoff using a shorter runway that was currently in use. During the takeoff roll, the airplane failed to respond to elevator inputs during the rotation phase, prompting the captain to abort the takeoff. The aircraft subsequently traveled off the end of the runway and came to rest in mud.
At the time of the incident, the wind was reported as variable at 4 knots. Following the overrun, the captain was unable to provide an accurate passenger count or a weight and balance calculation for the flight.
The investigation
An inspection by the aircraft manufacturer revealed no mechanical discrepancies related to the aborted takeoff. However, the manufacturer performed two separate weight and balance calculations for the incident takeoff attempt. Both calculations determined that the aircraft was above the maximum gross takeoff weight and positioned outside of the forward center-of-gravity envelope.