Narrative:

On takeoff roll we encountered an apparent windshear at a speed just below 55 KTS. The aircraft drifted to left of centerline. I used all available flight controls to stop the drift left. It became apparent that the aircraft was not responding and I called for and initiated an abort. I was able to get the aircraft stopped just off the left side of the runway in the grass. There was no aircraft damage and no injuries.the airport has no weather reporting facilities. The wind sock at departure showed an estimated wind of 340 at around 10 KTS. The winds were gusting but its undetermined to what speed. Aircraft was removed to ramp under its own power after being released by company to do so. Aircraft was inspected the next morning and approved for a ferry flight for maintenance. A small hydraulic leak was found and the right engine prop governor was replaced. It was found that the right engine was not providing the proper amount of reverse.contributing factors were a very narrow runway with a 70 degree crosswind and gusty conditions. Also the fact that during the abort I was unable to get maximum reverse allowed the aircraft to continue drifting to the left.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: The Captain of a DHC-6 was unable to maintain directional control on takeoff and exited the narrow runway on the downwind side.

Narrative: On takeoff roll we encountered an apparent windshear at a speed just below 55 KTS. The aircraft drifted to left of centerline. I used all available flight controls to stop the drift left. It became apparent that the aircraft was not responding and I called for and initiated an abort. I was able to get the aircraft stopped just off the left side of the runway in the grass. There was no aircraft damage and no injuries.The airport has no weather reporting facilities. The wind sock at departure showed an estimated wind of 340 at around 10 KTS. The winds were gusting but its undetermined to what speed. Aircraft was removed to ramp under its own power after being released by company to do so. Aircraft was inspected the next morning and approved for a ferry flight for maintenance. A small hydraulic leak was found and the right engine prop governor was replaced. It was found that the right engine was not providing the proper amount of reverse.Contributing factors were a very narrow runway with a 70 degree crosswind and gusty conditions. Also the fact that during the abort I was unable to get maximum reverse allowed the aircraft to continue drifting to the left.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.