What happened
During the takeoff roll, the pilot lifted the nose wheel of the aircraft off the runway early in an attempt to reduce ground drag on the nose. As the aircraft reached 100 feet altitude at an airspeed near rotation speed, it encountered a wind gust of approximately negative 30 knots. Witnesses observed that as the aircraft lifted off, it was moving abnormally slow and was not climbing quickly.
Following the encounter with the wind from above, the aircraft was pushed down. Although it subsequently gained some altitude, it did not climb above the height of the trees located at the departure end of the runway. The aircraft maintained a wings-level attitude and flew straight into the treeline, where it moments later erupted in flames. At the time of the accident, the weather consisted of rain and gusting winds, with radar indicating level 3 convective activity just west of the airport.
The investigation
An examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of any mechanical malfunctions or failures occurring prior to the impact.