WPR11LA287 · Cessna 177RG

The airplane arrived at the airport after a 3-hour flight. The pilot serviced the airplane to capacity with fuel and departed about 1 hour later. Turbulent crosswind and high density altitude conditions (9,369 feet) existed at the time of departure. A witness saw the airplane taxi along the 3,400-foot-long departure runway for about 1/3 of its length before beginning to accelerate. The passengers reported that, compared to previous flights, the airplane accelerated slower and took off farther down the runway, as would be expected due to the high density altitude. The pilot reported that the takeoff progressed normally until the airplane reached an altitude of about 200 feet above ground level. At that point, the airplane would no longer climb, and, certain that they would not be able to return to the airport, the pilot attempted to maneuver the airplane for landing in the field ahead. The passengers reported that, once airborne, the airplane rocked from side-to-side, and the stall warning horn operated continuously. The witness observed the airplane in an unusually nose-high attitude throughout the flight until it suddenly descended out of her view. The airplane impacted the ground in a flat attitude, sustaining crush damage in the vertical plane. Although the horizontal stabilizer sustained tree-strike damage, the wings did not; this damage pattern was consistent with the nose-high attitude observed by the witness. The airplane was loaded within its center of gravity envelope and was about 125 pounds below maximum gross weight. No evidence of preimpact mechanical malfunction or failure was noted during the postaccident examination of the airframe and engine. Review of recorded engine monitor data revealed that an appropriate level of power was being produced, and all engine parameters were normal. Although the mixture control was found in the full rich position, the pilot recalled that he leaned the mixture during taxi, and the power output determined from the engine monitor data was consistent with an appropriately leaned mixture. The pilot did not recall the extended runway taxi reported by the witness, however, performance calculations indicated that the remaining runway length would still have allowed for takeoff and adequate terrain clearance.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset