At about 1745 Eastern time, the airplane crashed in an empty parking lot. The pilot and pilot-rated passenger received serious injuries, and the airplane incurred substantial damage. Visual conditions prevailed. Immediately after takeoff, witnesses observed the airplane maneuver in a “quick,” sharp, right turn at low altitude. Several minutes later the airplane was observed to “swoop” down toward the approach end of the runway and pulled up until it was in the opposite direction from whence it came; this maneuver was performed twice at an estimated altitude of 250 feet agl. The airplane was then seen performing a forward slip until it was about 30 feet above the runway, accelerate and pull into an attitude estimated 70 degrees nose-up. The airplane then leveled out and performed another “swoop down” maneuver, followed by a right turn, at a low altitude, toward an empty parking lot. The airplane was then observed in a dive just over the empty parking lot. After that, the airplane was not seen again. Several minutes later emergency responding vehicles were heard. The airplane impacted the asphalt parking lot nose-first, spun around and slid backward for several yards until it impacted a fence before coming to a full stop.
