Event CEN11CA271

Factual narrative

The student pilot was performing a short field takeoff. He accelerated the airplane to 57 to 58 knots indicated airspeed and the airplane veered left. He "cut" the power and applied right rudder to keep the airplane on the runway. The airplane exited the runway and cartwheeled on its nose. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its fuselage and wings. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane in reference to the accident flight. He indicated that he may have inadvertently applied left toe brake during the takeoff. The student pilot stated that he performed a short field takeoff. He said he accelerated the airplane to about 58 knots indicated airspeed and the airplane veered left. He reduced the power and applied right rudder to keep the airplane on the runway, but the airplane exited the runway and cartwheeled on its nose. The airplane sustained substantial damage to its fuselage and wings. The pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane. He said that he may have inadvertently applied left toe brake during the takeoff. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-(general)-(general)-Pilot - C