20000907040809A

(.4) The airport consisted of a single runway oriented on a heading of 140/320 degrees. A taxiway oriented on a 120 degree heading intersected the runway at its midpoint. The pilot reported that the visibility was 500-1,000 feet with fog at the time of departure. Before he took off, the pilot asked his passenger to walk the length of the runway to observe any obstructions, due to the reduced visibility. The pilot then taxied to the run-up pad, set the heading of his HSI to 120 degrees, and initiated the takeoff. When the airspeed reached 80 knots, the pilot realized he had initiated the takeoff on the taxiway instead of the runway. He aborted the takeoff and attempted to maneuver the airplane to the runway. The airplane crossed the runway, impacted a tree, and came to rest upright in a cornfield. The weather reported at the time of the accident at an airport 9 miles away was: wind from 320 degrees at 2 knots; visibility 1/16 mile with fog; sky partially obscured; ceiling 200 feet overcast. (-23) I iic (david r carreau), arrived on scene at north hampden, MA airport (7B2) at approximately 9:25 am EST. The local authorities included the no rth hampden fire department lead by fire chief privacy data omitted and a Massachusetts state police officer privacy data omitted the pilot (PIC) francis I. Blair and (passenger) his son privacy data omitted had escaped from the wreckage were also present with no injuries to greet me. They were mentally coherent, but physically traumatized from the aircraft accident. My first question to the PIC was: "have you ever landed or taken off from this particular airfield (7B2)?" His reply was: "about three years ago." He stated he had flown in and out of this particular airfield (7B2) about three years ago. The passenger, privacy data omitted his son, (who was also present during the PIC interview), laughed when I asked the PIC the question pertaining to take-off and landings from this airport. The PIC stated that he observed a 120 degree compass heading from his directional gyro instrument in the aircraft cockpit, but his original flight plan was to take-off from runway rw 14, the instrument reading should have been 143 degrees if lined-upon the runway. I asked the PIC after observing this heading from the directional instrument in the cockpit when taxxing: "what were you thinking at this point if you observed a 120 degree heading instead of 143?" He stated: "I should have stopped taxiing of the aircraft if I wasn't sure of my directional heading." I also asked him if he knew at the time of taxiing if the aircraft was actually on the taxiway" he had no response. He had originally filed a flight plan with bdl air traffic control center with a void time of 1153 zulu using instrument flight rules (IFR). The passenger, his son privacy data omitted stated thatthe PIC had him get out of the aircraft during taxiing to see if there were any obstructions in front of the aircraft before preceeding to a take-off. The pic's attempted take-off departure path from the taxiway was evidently marked at the accident site with main landing gear tire skids across runway (RW14) from the taxiway. The aircraft's landing gear tire indentations were in the grass in the direction to the northeast side of the runway for about another 400 feet. The line of foliage adjacent to the edge of the airfield had been removed during the aircraft's low partial flight by the aircraft's main left wing. The aircraft's left main wing impacted the line of foliage adjacent to the grass for approximately another 440 ft., then the aircraft settled horizontal across a dirt road adjacent to the edge of a cornfield. The aircraft lay resting in a horizontal position on the lower fuselage skin with main landing gear retracted, and nose landing gear folded to the left under the fuselage nose.