What happened
Following a landing in winter conditions, slush accumulated under the wings and lower aft fuselage of the aircraft and began freezing. The plane was parked with its tail facing the sun, but airport personnel did not verify whether solar radiation had melted the ice. The pilot indicated he would return by 1630; however, when the airport manager prepared to leave at 1715, the pilot had not yet returned. Ice refroze on the runway during this interval.
The airport manager notified the Flight Service Station and left a message on the phone answering machine stating that the airport was closed. To discourage operations on the icy runway, he did not turn on the runway lights. The pilot returned at 1900 and elected to make a night departure. He reported that during takeoff, the aircraft lifted off but would not continue climbing. Shortly thereafter, the aircraft collided with trees and the roof of a building, then crashed and burned.
The investigation
An examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of a preimpact mechanical problem. Another pilot noted a layer of frost on the leading edge of his aircraft's wings and elected not to fly. He believed that there was frost on N36791.