What happened
On August 31, 2019, a Diamond DA20, registration N98BZ, was performing a soft-field takeoff in Covington, Tennessee. During the takeoff roll, the flight instructor was monitoring the flight controls while the student pilot was executing the maneuver. As the aircraft began to climb, the nose reached an excessively high attitude.
In an attempt to correct the high pitch, the flight instructor applied forward pressure on the control stick. Following this input, the aircraft began to veer to the right. The aircraft subsequently flew off the right edge of the runway and descended into the grass safety area. There were no injuries resulting from the accident.
The investigation
The investigation determined that the aircraft sustained substantial damage to the lower fuselage composite structure. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical failures or malfunctions present prior to the accident that would have prevented normal operation. Weather conditions at the time were VMC with 10 statute mile visibility.