'I cannot hear you with the wind'

The pilot reported an "open door" around the moment the Bonanza lifted off Runway 26 at Lancaster Airport at 3:16 p.m., according to timestamped audio recorded by LiveATC.net and ADS-B data of the accident flight.

The pilot and four passengers were transported to Lancaster General Hospital, and three of the patients were later transferred to Lehigh Valley Health Network's burn center, ABC News reported.

There were no injuries on the ground, officials said, though the impact of the sliding aircraft and postcrash fire damaged several vehicles in a parking lot next to the Fieldcrest building at Brethren Village, which issued a statement expressing well wishes to the injured pilot and passengers, and thanking first responders "for their swift and effective response."

The aircraft, a 1981 Beechcraft A36 Bonanza retrofitted with an Allison 250 series turboprop, according to FAA records, is registered to Jam Zoom Yayos LLC, at an address a few miles from the airport.

Recorded air traffic control audio begins with an instrument flight rules clearance issued at 3:01 p.m.; the flight was cleared for takeoff on Runway 26 at 3:15 p.m. Less than a minute later, within seconds of liftoff, the pilot reported, "Bonanza Three-Four-Seven-Mike has an open door, we need to return for landing."

The tower controller inquired which of the available runways the pilot would prefer.

"I cannot hear you with the wind so we're going to return ah, Two-Six, we're going to do the downwind," the pilot responded, then acknowledged the clearance to land on Runway 26.

METARS before and after the accident record similar conditions, including winds aligned with the runway at 17 knots gusting to 30 knots, with scattered clouds at 6,000 feet. A gust to 32 knots was recorded five minutes after the accident.

The flight was destined for Springfield/Beckley Municipal Airport in Ohio, according to FlightAware.

Flight data recorded by ADS-B Exchange show the aircraft climbed less than 200 feet above the ground on roughly runway heading, drifting south of the centerline as the pilot reported his intention to land on Runway 26. It began a left turn to the south and reached a maximum altitude of roughly 214 feet over the ramp in front of the main terminal, around the moment the controller warned the aircraft to "pull up."

The aircraft's recorded groundspeed had increased to 103 knots (into the wind) after takeoff, then slowed to around 53 knots as it began the left turn away from the runway. The groundspeed increased again to 112 knots through the turn, dropping to 77 knots in the final recorded data points, with the aircraft headed south toward the parking lot where it came to rest; the track ends at 84 feet above the ground, about 420 feet from where the aircraft's impact and fire damaged about a dozen parked cars. Officials estimated that the aircraft slid about 100 feet over the ground before reaching the parking lot.

The accident is at least the second of the year involving a general aviation aircraft that crashed soon after the pilot reported an open door. A father and daughter aboard a Van's RV–10 died January 2 in Fullerton, California, and the NTSB preliminary report on that accident details evidence that the door was open on takeoff. The pilot lost control and the aircraft crashed into a furniture warehouse, injuring 19 people inside, while attempting to land on the runway he had just departed.

Brian Pipkin, an eyewitness to the March 9 accident in Pennsylvania, told the Associated Press that he spotted the aircraft as it was climbing away from the runway, then it turned sharply left, "and then it went down nose first. There was an immediate fireball."