What happened
On a night of poor weather at Abilene Airport, an aircraft was performing its takeoff roll when it suddenly veered off course. During this maneuver, the plane entered a ground loop, which caused the structural failure of the undercarriage. As a result of the impact with the ground, the aircraft came to a rest on its belly.
The pilot was the only person on board at the time of the incident. While the aircraft sustained significant damage, the pilot sustained slight injuries during the event.
Findings
Investigations into the accident identified that the aircraft swerved because of the pilot's improper use of either the flight controls or the braking system during the takeoff phase. Several environmental and mechanical factors were noted as contributing to the loss of control:
- The runway surface was wet
- Wind conditions were unfavorable, including gusts reaching 20 knots
- An overload failure occurred during the sequence of events