What happened
The FAA’s narrative, in sentence case. The FAA writes it in capitals and removes private details.
(-23) Witnesses reported to the Douglas country sheriff that the pilot had taken four friends that were attending an outdoor working party on a local flight. The airplane made two of three passes over the work party. On the final pass witnesses reported that the airplane was slightly above the tops of the local houses, between 100 and 300 feet above ground level (AGL), and was traveling from northwest to southeast. The airplane made a sudden steep climbing left turn, appeared to decelerate at the top of the climbing turn, then dropped towards the ground nose first, and impacted a grass field. The engine could be heard "running perfectly" through the maneuver.
As the FAA filed it
(-23) WITNESSES REPORTED TO THE DOUGLAS COUNTRY SHERIFF THAT THE PILOT HAD TAKEN FOUR FRIENDS THAT WERE ATTENDING AN OUTDOOR WORKING PARTY ON A LOCAL FLIGHT. THE AIRPLANE MADE TWO OF THREE PASSES OVER THE WORK PARTY. ON THE FINAL PASS WITNESSES REPORTED THAT THE AIRPLANE WAS SLIGHTLY ABOVE THE TOPS OF THE LOCAL HOUSES, BETWEEN 100 AND 300 FEET ABOVE GROUND LEVEL (AGL), AND WAS TRAVELING FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST. THE AIRPLANE MADE A SUDDEN STEEP CLIMBING LEFT TURN, APPEARED TO DECELERATE AT THE TOP OF THE CLIMBING TURN, THEN DROPPED TOWARDS THE GROUND NOSE FIRST, AND IMPACTED A GRASS FIELD. THE ENGINE COULD BE HEARD "RUNNING PERFECTLY" THROUGH THE MANEUVER.
NTSB investigation
The NTSB’s investigation of this event, with its probable cause and findings. Matched to this report by N-number and date.