PIPER PA 18-150 — La Center, WA

What happened

The private pilot departed on a personal flight in day visual meteorological conditions to conduct touch-and-go takeoffs and landings at a nearby airport. Onboard data indicated that the pilot flew a left traffic pattern at the destination, then overflew the runway. A witness near the accident site saw the airplane climbing about 150 ft above the runway. The airplane turned left and remained in the traffic pattern; the witness stated that the airplane appeared to level off about 250 ft then disappeared from his view. Moments later, he heard a series of three loud bangs, followed by a full-power engine sound, another loud bang, and "an abrupt stoppage of all sounds." Review of recorder data revealed that right before the impact, the airplane's speed was 11 knots groundspeed, with the pitch angle of 8° and the left bank angle of 105° at the GPS altitude of 130 ft.  Survey of the accident site indicated that the airplane impacted a 140-ft tall tree while in a left turn and came to rest on the ground about 150 ft south-east from the initial tree strike. Therefore, it is likely that the pilot did not maintain a sufficient altitude necessary to avoid collision with the trees.

Postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any preexisting mechanical malfunctions that would have precluded normal operation, and autopsy and toxicology of the pilot did not reveal any evidence of physiological impairment or incapacitation.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.