ERA11LA249 · Beech D-45 (T-34B)
Beech D-45 (T-34B) · Accident: loss of control in flight during takeoff
From Linden, NC to Raleigh Executive Jetport (TTA)
Event
- NTSB case
- ERA11LA249
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
- Completed
- API-reported fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- General aviation
- WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
- Visual Meteorological Cond
Beech D-45 (T-34B)
- Aircraft type
- Beechcraft D-45
- Category
- Airplane
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- N93013
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Linden, NCTo Raleigh Executive Jetport (TTA), Sanford, NC
- Aircraft age
- Not recorded
- Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
- Part 91: General Aviation
- Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
- Takeoff
- Defining eventThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
- Loss of control in flight
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tree(s)
- DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
- Substantial
Cause areas
- Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability
- Personnel issues › Task performance
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The pilot conducted a preflight inspection and a pre-takeoff engine run-up check with no discrepancies noted. He positioned the airplane for takeoff at the end of the grass strip in order to use all of the available runway. The pilot advanced the power and the target rpm was noted as the airplane rolled down the grass strip. The pilot recalled that he rotated about 50 to 60 knots and was about two-thirds of the way down the runway when the airplane climbed about 10 to 12 feet over the runway. The landing gear doors closed and the airplane reached an altitude of about 50 feet; however, both the pilot and passenger reported that the airplane felt like it was not gaining speed or altitude. The airplane started to descend and shortly thereafter impacted a tree stump, tree debris, and the ground.
The wreckage examination revealed that the flaps were in the full up position at the time of impact. A review of the airplane’s onboard flight manual, Section III, Normal Procedures, advises pilots that, for a minimum run takeoff, they should “use 75 percent of flaps.” The manual also advises pilots on proper technique, what variables to consider, and instructs them to check performance graph charts for proper takeoff settings and indications. The manual’s performance charts make reference to hard-surface runways but contain no reference to soft (grass strip) field takeoff calculations. The pilot did not mention having performed any calculations for the grass strip prior to the takeoff.
Probable cause
The pilot's inadequate takeoff performance planning and procedures, which resulted in an attempted takeoff on a grass runway that was not long enough for the given conditions and airplane configuration.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record ERA11LA249
- Event ID
- 20110418X31323
- Case number
- ERA11LA249
- Dataset
- full-current
- Source SHA-256
- 5cf380f0061817c0331a6b2d8cc7e0ee3a79bea469a1001dc5c10e56f35f5ab3
Source notes (4)
- Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
- Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: 1e9c24aa645b520d820d988819de9d44454e171f9cd7ed8e68898a0e35644bb2; retrieved 2026-09-15T16:04:23.286Z.