What happened
The incident occurred while the aircraft was parked on the ramp. The engine initially failed to start using the electric starter system. In an attempt to initiate combustion manually, the pilot adjusted the throttle setting, exited the cockpit, and rotated the propeller by hand.
Upon ignition, the engine revved to a high RPM unexpectedly. This sudden surge in power broke the tie-down rope attached to the tail of the aircraft. The uncontrolled acceleration caused the aircraft to move rapidly across the ramp surface until it impacted a tree.
The investigation
Examination of the event revealed that the passenger onboard did not know how to stop the aircraft once it began moving. The mechanical failure was limited to the initial starter operation, but the subsequent manual start procedure resulted in loss of control due to the high engine RPM and lack of restraint.
Findings
Contributing factors included the improper method of starting the engine by hand after a starter failure and the absence of immediate shutdown procedures available to the passenger. The tie-down equipment failed to contain the aircraft under the load generated by the high-RPM start.