January 18, Chesapeake, Va. / Cessna 172

At 1440 eastern time, a Cessna 172 crashed into a field when it failed to climb after takeoff from Hampton Roads Airport. The pilot and passenger were not injured. The pilot, a flight instructor, said she had spend 1 hours cleaning snow from the airplane before attempting to take off. She said she cleared the leading edges but decided the snow of top of the wings would blow off during taxi. As the airplane reached 300 feet, however, the stall horn went off and the pilot attempted to return to the airport. During the turn, the airplane landed hard in a field. A witness, who is a Designated Pilot Examiner, said the airplane was covered with up to 4 inches of snow and ice as the airplane taxied to the runway. At the accident site, there was still about -inch of ice and snow on the wings.