As the pilot was attempting to take off at the airport in Riverton, Wyoming, he noted that the Piper PA-28R-200’s landing light was not working.
Although the runway lights provided him with good visibility, his depth perception was limited.
As the airplane approached the intersection with the crossing runway during the takeoff roll, he thought the airplane was approaching the end of the runway. He rotated the airplane to lift off, but it had not gained enough airspeed to become airborne, so he decided to reject the takeoff.
As he reduced engine power, he lost directional control, and the airplane left the left side of the runway.
The pilot stated there were no issues with the airplane during the takeoff other than the inoperative landing light.
He noted that a better review of the airport diagram and a working landing light might have improved his situational awareness during the takeoff.
Probable cause: The pilot’s loss of directional control during the rejected takeoff. Contributing to the accident were the pilot’s lack of familiarity with the airport runway configuration, which led to his premature attempt to take off, and the airplane’s inoperative landing light.
NTSB Identification: CEN18LA052
This December 2017 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Landing light or no landing light, the pilot had directional orientation via the runway lights. How could he run off the runway with the lights on?
Since he attempted takeoff on an 8,000 runway, he could have rotated in a third of that distance. What would lead him to think he was approaching the end of the runway?
This one’s a number of ‘stupid pilot tricks’;
– 5 folks in a 4 seat a/c
– not knowing the runway info
– not returning to the ramp to see if a replacement landing light was availalbe.
# a 109 hr pilot with 14 hrs in this a/c going on a long, night cross country with too many pax.
This accident on the ground might have been a blessing in disguise for those passengers. Somehow this sounds like the setup for a much worse accident such as spacial disorientation leading to a high speed collision with the ground.