Cessna 182 accident near Clinton, Montana, August 28, 2016

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

The private pilot was conducting a local flight in the airplane, which he was planning to purchase. A witness saw the airplane initially overfly the runway from east to west, then turn back to the east and onto a right downwind for landing to the west on runway 25; the witness, who was a pilot, reported that the wind was directly down the runway about 8 knots. When the airplane was on a short final approach about 15 ft above the runway, it suddenly turned 90° to the right, in what the witness estimated was a bank angle of about 30° to 40°. The airplane continued at a low altitude toward the north perimeter of the airport where it impacted a stand of trees, then proceeded through the trees before coming to rest upright on the south shoulder of an interstate highway. Shortly thereafter, a postcrash fire erupted and consumed the airplane. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine did not reveal any mechanical anomalies that would have precluded normal operation. The reason for the sudden right turn while on short final approach could not be determined during the investigation.

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.