On June 10, 1996, at approximately 0635 Pacific daylight time, an unregistered Bailey Antares MA30 amateur-built airplane collided with terrain following a loss of control immediately after takeoff from Woodland State Airport, Woodland, Washington. The aircraft sustained substantial damage and its sole occupant, the uncertificated pilot who owned and had built the aircraft, was killed. The aircraft was of a "motorized hang glider" configuration consisting of a Ukranian-manufactured Antares MA30 trike mated to an Aeros Stranger 15-meter wing and a Rotax 503 pusher engine. The airplane, with tandem seats and an empty weight of 321 pounds as reported by the U.S. Ultralight Association, did not meet the standards of 14 CFR 103 for ultralight vehicles and was thus operated under the provisions of 14 CFR 91. No flight plan was filed and visual meteorological conditions prevailed.

Witnesses told an FAA inspector and local law enforcement authorities at the scene that the aircraft took off to the north (runway 31), pitched up abruptly and steeply (straight up, according to one witness) attaining a maximum altitude of approximately 100 feet above ground level, then rolled off on one wing and descended into the ground, impacting about 65 feet east of the runway. The FAA inspector reported to the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) that he found no evidence of an aircraft malfunction at the scene. The weather at the time of the accident was listed on the FAA's preliminary accident notification as clear with calm winds.

Although the pilot did not hold an FAA pilot or medical certificate, the United States Ultralight Association (USUA), Frederick, Maryland, reported that the pilot was registered with that organization as an ultralight pilot; the USUA stated that this registration was limited to single-place ultralight vehicle operations under 14 CFR 103. The FAA inspector reported that the pilot's logbook indicated he had received approximately 23 hours of dual instruction in ultralight aircraft as well as at least one solo flight. The aircraft also did not have an FAA airworthiness certificate or registration but USUA reported that the pilot had registered an Antares trike, USUA registration number 13 MEB, with the USUA. This registration number was observed on the wreckage of the aircraft at the scene.

The pilot procured the airplane kit from Kemmeries Aviation of Peoria, Arizona, a distributor and trainer for the Antares aircraft. A representative of Kemmeries Aviation, in a telephone interview with the NTSB IIC on June 20, 1996, stated that the pilot had transported the kit out of the Kemmeries Aviation facility on a trailer; and that he believed the pilot had received his training at Casa Grande, Arizona, and had not received it at Kemmeries Aviation. The Kemmeries Aviation representative emphatically stated to the NTSB IIC during the telephone interview that the pilot was aware of FAA pilot and aircraft certification requirements with regard to operation of the aircraft.

The pilot was 72 years old. Clark County sheriffs' deputies reported that the pilot's wife told them that the pilot had been taking medication for various conditions including heart problems, and had undergone open-heart surgery approximately ten years ago. An autopsy conducted by the Clark County Coroner, Vancouver, Washington, on June 11, 1996, ruled the cause of death as blunt force chest trauma and the manner of death as "accident", but listed atherosclerotic coronary artery disease among "other significant conditions" discovered in the autopsy. The autopsy report characterized the coronary artery disease as severe, noting (among other findings) 80 to 90 percent stenosis of all major coronary arteries. Per 14 CFR 67.17(e)(1)(iii), coronary heart disease that has required treatment is a disqualifying condition for issuance of an FAA third-class medical certificate. Toxicology tests performed by the FAA Civil Aeromedical Institute, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, detected ibuprofen, fluconazole (an anti-fungal medication), and cimetidine (a drug used to treat duodenal and gastric ulcers) in the pilot's blood and urine.