What happened
On 22 March 2001, at approximately 17:35, a passenger charter flight operating as Tulip 2B was attempting an IFR departure from Orléans-Saint Denis de l’Hôtel toward Paris-Le Bourget. The aircraft, a PA-31-350 Chieftain with registration PH-ABD, was performing its takeoff roll on runway 23 when the co-pilot, acting as the pilot flying, encountered difficulties during the rotation phase.
In response to the inability to rotate, the pilot initiated an aborted takeoff. However, the aircraft was unable to decelerate sufficiently on the runway surface, which was noted to be wet. Tire marks were visible on the pavement starting roughly one hundred meters before the runway threshold. The aircraft exited the runway, traveling across saturated grass. During the excursion, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the aircraft eventually came to a rest approximately one hundred and eighty meters beyond the end of the runway. There were no fatalities or injuries reported in the incident.
Findings
Investigations into the event identified that the crew had failed to remove the flight control locking device prior to departure, which prevented the necessary control inputs for rotation.