Incident
Shortly after departure from Kenai Airport, while climbing through an altitude of 2,000 feet, the number one engine experienced a fire and subsequently exploded. The crew declared an emergency and initiated a return to Kenai. During the return, a section of the left wing separated from the aircraft. The airplane became uncontrollable and crashed into a pasture. Impact forces and a post-crash fire destroyed the aircraft.
Occupants
All three individuals on board were killed in the accident.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined the probable cause as an engine fire and explosion in flight resulting from a failure in the engine structure, specifically a cylinder assembly material failure. Contributing factors included an overload failure, fire in the engine and wing, in-flight separation, and failure of cylinder number two in engine number one.