THE DTSB
The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be Pilot Error, in that the pilot became distracted with the aircraft ahead of him in the traffic pattern, and entered fixation on that traffic after a previous go-around due to another traffic conflict, therefore losing speed awareness on the downwind leg turning base, and ultimately the inflight loss of DMMS and the loss of control (LOC) The Caps System parachute handle was pulled and the rocket motor fired but the activation altitude was too low to be effective. The data showed that a few moments later, just before the airplane initiated a right turn to the base leg for runway 13, and that the ground speed had decreased to about 80 knots. Shortly after the right turn was initiated, the ADS-B data ended over Utah Lake near the accident site. A witness in another airplane reported that they observed the accident airplane “bank sharply then stall” before it “fell into a rapid descent with 3 rotations.”