Incident Description
Witnesses in Enterprise, Oregon, reported seeing an aircraft flying erratically on a bright night with clear skies. According to one witness, the aircraft appeared to maneuver upward and then drop down before it disappeared from sight. At that moment, an explosion and fireball were observed at the location where the aircraft had vanished. The aircraft subsequently crashed on down-sloping terrain in a nose-low, right-wing-down attitude. After impact, the wreckage slid approximately 100 feet downhill and was destroyed by fire.
Wreckage Examination
Examination of the crash site, located at an elevation of about 3,900 feet above mean sea level, revealed that the propeller had separated during impact. The propeller showed evidence of power at the time of impact; it was badly bent and had large gouge marks on the tips. Flight control cables were found to be complete and unbroken to the tail section, and they were continuous to both wings except where the wings had separated from the fuselage.
Toxicology Results
A toxicological examination of the pilot's blood detected an alcohol level of 0.449%.