At 12:02 PST, a Commander 114 struck a pole after takeoff from Hanford Municipal Airport. The pilot and three passengers died. The airport manager said he watched the airplane on its takeoff roll and noticed that, when the Commander was half-way down the 3,962-foot runway the nosewheel still had not lifted off. He said it appeared the pilot jerked or horsed the airplane into the air at the end of the runway without sufficient speed to fly. Just over a mile from the runway, the airplane collided with a telephone pole at a point 36 feet off the ground.
March 30, Hanford, Calif. / Commander 114
At 12:02 PST, a Commander 114 struck a pole after takeoff from Hanford Municipal Airport. The pilot and three passengers died. The airport manager said he watched the airplane on its takeoff roll and noticed that, when the Commander was half-way down the 3,962-foot runway the nosewheel still had not lifted off. He said it appeared the pilot jerked or horsed the airplane into the air at the end of the runway without sufficient speed to fly. Just over a mile from the runway, the airplane collided with a telephone pole at a point 36 feet off the ground....
Key Takeaways:
- A Commander 114 crashed shortly after takeoff from Hanford Municipal Airport at 12:02 PST, killing the pilot and three passengers.
- The airport manager observed the aircraft's nosewheel did not lift until late in the takeoff roll, suggesting the pilot forced the plane into the air without sufficient speed.
- The airplane subsequently collided with a telephone pole 36 feet off the ground, just over a mile from the runway.
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