Accident Overview
The aircraft collided with flat desert terrain in a steep nose-down attitude. No witnesses to the accident were identified. The airplane departed from its home base airport at 0740 for a presumed local area flight and was reported overdue on the morning of the 15th when the passenger failed to return home. The FAA issued an ALNOT for the missing airplane, and it was found by a search helicopter at 1641 that afternoon.
Pilot and Flight Information
Witnesses who knew the pilot stated that he liked to land in the open desert on "sand dunes" using the large-sized tundra tires he had equipped the airplane with, which were designed for use on soft unimproved surfaces. Several entries in the pilot's personal flight logbook contained notes of "practice short and soft landings in dirt."
Weather and Site Conditions
Weather data showed that during the morning hours of the 14th, conditions remained clear with generally southerly winds at less than 10 knots. No unusual meteorological phenomena were reported during this time. The accident site is in flat desert terrain composed of firm sandy soil and populated by scrub-type trees up to 10 feet tall. Examination of the trees surrounding the accident site revealed no evidence of disturbance to any upper branches or trunks.
Wreckage Examination
The airplane sustained extensive longitudinal crush and collapse of the fuselage back to within 3 feet of the horizontal stabilizers. Ground scar impressions were noted about 15 feet from the wreckage that dimensionally and geometrically resembled the nose of the airplane and the left wing tip. No other ground disturbances were observed in the vicinity. The engine was in a shallow crater formed in the impact sequence, with the engine's longitudinal axis at a 30-degree angle to the horizontal. No pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures were found with any airframe system or the engine.
Nearby Observations
About 1/2 mile southwest of the wreckage, a large flat clear area was noted with multiple tire tracks crossing the field. The tire tracks were dimensionally similar to the main gear tires on the airplane and were spaced about the wheel width of the PA-18 series airplanes. Two sets of tracks were found with a center track approximating the geometry and dimension of the airplane's tail wheel; these tracks started, went for a distance estimated about 500 feet, where they turned around and proceeded back the opposite way until they disappeared. Two additional tracks were observed without the center track trace; these tracks were shorter in length at about 200 feet. No footprints could be discerned around any of the tracks. Assuming that the tracks represent an airplane landing or taking off, the accident site was noted to be in a location consistent with the approximate traffic pattern distance from a typical 2,000-foot landing strip at either a base-to-final or crosswind-to-downwind turn point.