February 02, Titusville, Fla. / Beech Sierra

At 1206 eastern time, a Beech A24R struck wires and trees on initial takeoff from runway 9 at Space Coast Regional Airport, Titusville. The pilot was seriously injured and three passengers reported minor injuries. The pilot said he took off with 10 degrees of flaps and the airplane accelerated normally, however, he did not rotate until the airplane was nearly at the end of the 5,000-foot runway. He said the throttle felt like it was sticking but the tach indicated more than 2500 rpm. The tower controller said the ground run appeared to be slow and the airplane climbed only to about 15 to 20 feet agl before colliding with trees.