A Hawker 900XP damaged when it ran off the end of Runway 27 at Colorado's Telluride Regional Airport (KTEX) during an aborted takeoff apparently was not configured for departure as the pilot had calculated, according to the NTSB preliminary report of the July 20 accident. The report also noted that weather data indicated the aircraft might have attempted to take off with a tailwind.
The two pilots were not injured in the accident, but the lower fuselage was substantially damaged when the aircraft traveled over the engineered material arresting system (EMAS) and came to a stop about 150 feet from the runway threshold. They were on a repositioning flight without passengers to Miami Executive Airport (KTMB) after completing an on-demand passenger flight earlier in the day, landing on KTEX's Runway 9.
For takeoff, the crew selected 7,111-foot Runway 27, as recommended by a Telluride operations notice. “Performance calculations showed a takeoff roll between 6,800 to 6,900 feet would be needed with flaps set to 15 degrees,” according to the NTSB report. “There were 1,253 gallons of fuel onboard.”
When the airplane had not attained 75% of the planned takeoff speed halfway down the dry runway, the pilot decided to abort. “The brakes, air brakes, and thrust reversers were used, however the airplane did not slow down,” the NTSB said. “Maximum braking was then applied, and the airplane began to depart the runway to the right” before rolling on to the EMAS.
After the crew exited the airplane, the pilot saw the wing flaps fully retracted. A review of video from an Automated Weather Observing System camera (located just to the north of the sole runway) showed an “extended windsock with an easterly wind.”
The airport, which is located on a 1,000-foot mesa with rising terrain on all quadrants, had the following restrictions in place at the time of the accident: “RY 09/27 RCMD TKOF RY 27; LAND RY 09 AND AVOID POPULATED AREAS. RY 09/27 GRADE - .08 ON RY ENDS, -1.3 TO APPROX MIDPOINT THEN +.75.”