July 23, Vidalia, Ga. / Beech 23 Sundowner

At 07:30 EDT, a Beech 23 struck a fence while taking off from a pasture near Vidalia. The pilot was not injured. The pilot elected to fly the airplane from the 800-foot pasture despite a large dent and torn sheet metal on the leading edge of the wing from a previous accident. The landing light covers located on the leading edge of both wings were also found to have been damaged and partially missing from the previous accident. Upon takeoff the airplane became airborne and climbed three to four feet before striking a fence at the end of the field. The airplane then yawed 180 degrees and came to rest in a rubbish pile. The last annual performed on the airplane occurred in February 1997 with no records of further maintenance found.