ERA19LA016

The private pilot reported that he was practicing landings. He departed and flew over a nearby town and noted that the air was "quite turbulent." Upon returning to the airport, the pilot entered the downwind leg of the traffic pattern and began a constant-radius, descending turn to the final leg of the traffic pattern. He noticed that the airplane was too low and applied engine power to maintain level flight. The airplane leveled off, and the pilot continued the approach to the runway. The pilot added that, as the airplane approached a tree line, which was about 100 ft before the approach end of the runway, the airplane "suddenly sank" and impacted trees before he could arrest the descent. The airplane came to rest inverted in a wooded area. The wings, fuselage, and empennage sustained substantial damage. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Given the evidence, it is likely that the pilot did not maintain a proper approach path, which resulted in the impact with trees. Examination of upper air sounding data revealed that no turbulence nor low-level wind shear existed in the area at the time of the accident. A review of meteorological data revealed that the wind conditions had the potential to develop into a 1-knot tailwind. However, the pilot should have been able to anticipate and adequately respond to the slight tailwind.

On October 12, 2018, about 1345 central daylight time, an experimental amateur-built SA300 Starduster, N503CM, was substantially damaged when it struck trees during final approach to land at Maidment Field Airport (7MS3), Byhalia, Mississippi. The private pilot was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan was filed for the local flight, which originated about 1315. The personal flight was conducted under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.According to the pilot, the purpose of the flight was to practice landings on runway 35 at 7MS3. He departed and flew over a nearby town and noted that the air was "quite turbulent," which he did not notice on the ground. On the way back, the pilot entered the downwind leg of the traffic pattern to land on runway 35 and began a constant radius descending turn to the final leg of the traffic pattern. He noticed that the airplane was "too low" and applied engine power to maintain level flight. The airplane leveled off and the pilot continued the approach to the runway. As the airplane approached the tree line, which was 100 ft prior to the approach end of the runway, the airplane "suddenly sank" and impacted the trees before he could arrest the descent. The airplane came to rest inverted in a wooded area. The wings, fuselage, and empennage were substantially damaged in the accident sequence. After the accident, the pilot reported that there were no mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation prior to the accident. The 1350 recorded weather observation at Olive Branch Airport (OLV), Olive Branch, Mississippi, located about 16 nautical miles north of the accident location, included wind from 360° at 5 knots, visibility 10 miles, clear skies, temperature 19°C, dew point 5°C, and an altimeter setting of 29.98 inches of mercury. An upper air sounding for accident site for 1400 was reviewed and indicated that there was no clear-air turbulence or low-level wind shear. In addition, the wind below 4,000 ft mean sea level indicated 5 knots. Two non-official weather sites about 16 nautical miles to the west of the accident location (one to the northwest and one to the southwest) were reviewed for weather data. Wind speeds were similar to OLV around the time of the accident; however, both indicated a tailwind wind component of about 1 knot.