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ERA14CA352

2014-07-22 · Chatham, Massachusetts, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport CQX

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot's failure to maintain directional control during takeoff, resulting in a runway excursion and collision with trees.

Factual narrative

According to the pilot, he was performing a touch-and-go landing to runway 24. He was initially high on final; however, he landed the airplane about 400 feet from the arrival end of the runway. After applying full throttle during the subsequent takeoff, the airplane veered "significantly" to the left. He attempted to regain directional control; however, the airplane departed the left side of the runway, into the grass. He applied wheel brakes and the wheels skidded on the grass until the airplane contacted trees. The airplane then spun around "violently" and came to a stop. An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration examined the airplane and confirmed substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. According to the pilot, he was performing a touch-and-go landing to runway 24. He was initially high on final; however, he landed the airplane about 400 feet from the arrival end of the runway. After applying full throttle during the subsequent takeoff, the airplane veered "significantly" to the left. He attempted to regain directional control; however, the airplane departed the left side of the runway, into the grass. He applied wheel brakes and the wheels skidded on the grass until the airplane contacted trees. The airplane then spun around "violently" and came to a stop. An inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration examined the airplane and confirmed substantial damage to the fuselage and wings. The pilot reported no pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
  • C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
  • — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Object/animal/substance-Tree(s)-Contributed to outcome

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2014_ERA14CA352.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (runway excursion). All research papers