What happened
During a corporate flight departing from runway 27 at Oakland-Troy Airport in Troy, Michigan, an aircraft collided with trees while performing its initial takeoff climb. The pilot reported that shortly after leaving the ground, the aircraft experienced a yawing motion followed by a veer to the right. In an attempt to correct this deviation, the left wing made contact with the ground.
Despite the impact, all four occupants were able to evacuate the plane and escaped the accident uninjured. Following the event, inspections of the engines revealed a small leak at the air intake manifold on the right engine. The left engine sustained significant damage due to fire and was rendered untestable.
Findings
Investigations into the accident highlighted several environmental and operational factors. At the time of the departure, it was snowing, and reports indicated that approximately 5 inches of snow had accumulated on the runway. A primary contributing factor was that airport snow removal had not been performed on the runway that evening.
Additional findings noted that the pilot in command failed to attain the proper climb rate and exhibited overconfidence in the aircraft's capabilities. The investigation also identified terrain conditions involving turbulence as a factor during the flight phase.