NTSB Factual Report

On September 21, 2002, about 1258 eastern daylight time, a homebuilt Johnson Hornet, N1928J, registered to and operated by an individual, impacted with trees during landing at Johnson Field Airport, Archdale, North Carolina. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed. The local personal flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91. The airplane was substantially damaged. The private-rated pilot reported no injuries. The flight had originated from the same private airstrip at 1255.

The pilot stated that just after takeoff from runway 21, he started a left turn at about 300 feet when he "suddenly" realized that he "forgot to secure [the] right door." He said he got concerned that the door would break loose and hit the propeller. He elected to return for landing on runway 03. He approached the runway, and that a "1/4 tail crosswind" pushed the flight towards the trees. He said that he "…failed to monitor the airspeed," and when he attempted to add power to the engine, to climb over trees, he "…couldn't accelerate fast enough" to avoid the upper part of the trees. The pilot said, "…this accident was due to pilot error, nothing to due with the aircraft or power plant...I failed to fly the plane with full attention to landing. I gave too much attention to the door."

According to the FAA Inspector's statement, the pilot did not realize upon landing approach that he was lined up with the "taxiway," and not the runway as he intended. The pilot attempted to "steer" the airplane to the right in an attempt to make the runway, but could not "attain" the needed airspeed fast enough to correct the direction of flight, or climb enough to "avoid" the trees.

NTSB Probable Cause

the pilot's failure to maintain directional control during final approach, which resulted in the airplane drifting off course and impacting with trees. Factors in this accident were the pilot's attention being diverted due to the right door not being secured.