Originally Posted by glendalaegoon
a thought struck me that perhaps the pilots took off from an intersection by mistake and didn't have sufficient runway for takeoff.
just a thought mind you.
doesn't it remind you a bit of the lexington, kentucky crash of the RJ, taking off on the wrong runway
I know this airport well and seriously doubt that there was an intersection take off attempted for a number of reasons.
The preferred runway is 29, assuming no wind factor. The winds that night were light to nill. Although Hanscom can get crazy busy during the weekday, after dark on a Saturday night, the airfield was probably near deserted by comparison, with just a few operations per hour. A taxi to Runway 11 is very short, since the runway starts very close to either FBO. That saves a mile and half of taxi and is likely the reason for the Rwy 11 departure. It would be interesting to hear the ATIS at the time of the accident.
There are no realistic intersection spots for a 11 departure, even for a smaller plane--the available runway at either G or F is not great for a jet. It also wouldn't make sense (even starting from runway 5-23), since you'd be taxiing parallel to a long runway and THEN taking off on the rest of it. The jet was almost certainly parked at an FBO (Jet or Signature), not on the east ramp which is adjacent to the USAF base and has limited easy access for civilians.
If the G IV had departed on Rwy 29 and had the same scenario on the runway, the outcome might have been different, as there is no downgrade and river after the runway overrun ends in that direction. But there are also trees after a long cleared area so who knows.