There was a good article by Richard Collins published in Air Facts Journal today. It says, in part:
Takeoffs are wonderful maneuvers and I never failed to think of it as pure magic when the weight of the airplane shifted from the ground to the wings. It’s still the same airplane but when it flies it comes alive.
That’s the happy part of taking off. What comes next is a period of flight with few options and where any problem can quickly become a serious problem.
One source I looked at indicated that ten percent of the fatal accidents happen on takeoff. Because the period of time is short relative to the rest of the flight, this suggests that the risk is quite high. Many or most of the things that lead to trouble in the first three minutes of flight can be anticipated and that is why it is important not to rush through the pre-flight work.
It is also probably safe to say that most accidents that occur in the first ten or fifteen minutes of flight can be traced back to something neglected before flight.
He goes on to discuss the importance of being fully prepared before you push the throttle in to begin a takeoff and what that preparation really means…