Amateur-built FOKKER DR-1 TRIPLANE accident near Parker, Colorado, August 26, 2012

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The pilot departed the airport, made a left turn to the east, and climbed to an altitude of 6,700 feet mean sea level (msl) at a groundspeed of about 93 knots. About 5 minutes after departing the airport, the airplane initiated a left descending turn and disappeared off radar. Two witnesses who lived near the accident site heard the airplane approach. One witness said the engine sounded normal. As they went outside to see the airplane, the witnesses saw the airplane go over their house at a low altitude, and one witness went to the back of the house to continue to watch the airplane. After he got to the back of his house, the witness saw the airplane in a tight left descending spiral in about a 45-degree nose-down pitch angle. A postaccident examination of the airplane did not reveal any preimpact anomalies that would have precluded normal operations. A review of weather conditions at the time of the accident revealed that the density altitude was about 8,250 feet. The elevation at the accident site was 6,170 feet msl. The high density altitude would have reduced the airplane’s climb performance by about 67 percent, which could explain the airplane’s reduced climb performance. When the pilot was interviewed 7 months after the accident occurred, he said he could not recall anything that occurred on the day of the accident. However, it is likely that the airplane stalled as a result of reduced airspeed and climb performance while operating at a high density altitude.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.