Should I Take Off? It's Not a Simple Decision

A pilot has to decide on the runway not to take off, and reflects on how things differed when he worked for an airline.

Thursday, December 30, 2021 at 02:54 PM ET

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Les Abend was faced with the go-or-no-go decision on two very different occasions. [Screengrab from FLYING YouTube video]

Key Takeaways:

A pilot experienced erroneous airspeed indications during takeoff but, drawing on airline pilot experience, opted to continue the flight, safely landed the aircraft, and confirmed its flyability through other means.
The problem was eventually traced to a cracked pitot-tube hose end, not just a bug, requiring more extensive repairs after a subsequent test flight was also aborted early due to continued airspeed issues.
The incident highlights the complex "to go or not to go" decision during takeoff, contrasting modern airline procedures (often preferring to handle issues airborne unless critical) with the pilot's adapted general aviation strategy of pre-planning an early abort for airspeed problems during a test flight.

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I had myriad reasons why my Piper Arrow hadn’t slipped the surly bonds in weeks, so when the day’s weather transformed into a beautiful Florida clear-and-a-million sky, I had no excuses. The mission was uncomplicated. I’d fly to an airport only 15 minutes away, top off the tanks, and return home while practicing a GPS approach or two.

After a methodical engine run-up, and a “not-everybody-gets-to-do-this” grin on my face, I pushed the throttle forward on all 200 horses of the IO-360. A scan of the JPI and analog gauges indicated we were go for launch. As the runway lights and centerline markings started to blur with normal acceleration, I noticed that both the Aspen Avionics flight display and the analog airspeed were indicating 35 knots. Approximating the distance traveled on the 5,500-foot runway, I quickly realized that the airspeed should be higher. Ruh-roh.