The pilot stated that he had been landing his tailwheel-equipped airplane at an off-airport site. On his third landing attempt, he elected to go around, but the airplane landed hard. During the landing, the left main landing gear broke, and the left wing contacted terrain, sustaining substantial damage to the wing spar.

In his written statement to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the pilot stated that the airplane may not have been developing full power, but in a telephone conversation with the NTSB investigator-in-charge he said, "the engine was running good when the prop hit."