At about 0950 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted trees and the ground following takeoff. Visual conditions prevailed. The private pilot and two passengers were fatally injured; one passenger was seriously injured. Before the attempted takeoff, 35.8 gallons of aviation fuel were added. According to several eyewitnesses, the airplane became airborne about two-thirds of the way down the runway. It then pitched up to a nose-high attitude, leveled, pitched up again to approximately the same pitch attitude, and subsequently appeared to have a “high sink rate” as it descended behind a tree line.
