The airplane sustained substantial damage when it collided with terrain at 1248 Pacific time. The student pilot, who also owned the airplane, was fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed. Witnesses reported the student pilot planned on doing touch-and-go landings. A witness reported he observed the airplane in a steep, nose-low, left downwind to base turn and that the airplane continued the descending turn until he lost sight of the aircraft behind a tree line. Records showed the pilot had logged approximately 325 hours total time, of which 261 hours were solo. FAA records show the pilot received a student pilot certificate in February 2004 and a second certificate in February of 2006.
