Piper PA-18-150 | N14323

The DTSB determines the Probable Cause of this accident to be Pilot Error, in that the pilot did not properly secure all equipment in the aircraft for this airborne hunting flight, and an object became lodged at the base of the control stick in the nose down position. The aircraft impacted wings level, but in a high speed nose low attitude.

The DTSB recommends that all pilots of all aircraft take extra care to secure all objects in the aircraft, and that boots are installed at the base of all control sticks to prevent small items from becoming lodged in locations that would prevent stick movement.