Accident Overview
On October 28, 2018, at about 1500 central daylight time, a Cessna 182Q, registration N20BK, sustained substantial damage during an accident near Elba, Alabama. The flight instructor, the commercial pilot receiving instruction, and a passenger were not injured. The airplane was being operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 instructional flight.
Sequence of Events
According to the flight instructor, all three occupants boarded the airplane after completing a preflight inspection. An engine run-up revealed no anomalies. As the airplane neared the midpoint of the 3,050-foot-long runway, the instructor noticed that the airspeed was 50 knots and was not increasing. He immediately reduced engine power to idle, aborted the takeoff, and applied the brakes. The airplane overran the runway and collided with a berm about 1,000 feet past the runway end.
Damage and Examination
An examination by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector revealed that the nose landing gear had broken away from the strut and that the engine firewall was buckled. The airplane’s maintenance logs were not made available for review.
Postaccident Testing
A postaccident test of the pitot-static system found a leak within the system. During testing, the airspeed indicator read 40 knots when tested at 70 knots, and 60 knots when tested at 100 knots.