RivetBangers.com

well, we don't know much at this time. it was a beautiful RV-9A with attention to detail. spinner matched to the cowl contour perfectly, nice paint, two up for this flight both critically injured. hey, the helicopter rides like this were quoted to me to be about 50K. for both, that's 100K, but it was needed for them to have a chance at survival. I hope they both make it. he put it between the trees. never stop flying into the crash....

perhaps a prop change in the photos.

https://asn.flightsafety.org/wikibase/390301

An experimental Van's RV-9A kit built by Neal Corolla crashed near Saluda County Airport (6J4), Saluda, South Carolina.
The two occupants were seriously injured, and the aircraft was destroyed.

well, you need to understand the winds and what it is going to do when you drop below the tree line. ask yourself, is this really a smart thing to be doing? there is not much room for error with the trees nearby.

https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/ ... 194579/pdf

Analysis
The pilot was executing a forward slip to land. On short final approach to the runway, as the airplane descended below the tree line of a forest that was to his immediate right, he encountered a downdraft and crosswind. The airplane began to sink and yawed to the right. The pilot attempted to go around, but the landing gear struck the trees. The airplane continued to descend, and the right wing impacted a tree before the airplane came to rest upright in a nose down attitude at the base of two trees. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both wings, the fuselage, and the vertical stabilizer. The pilot reported there were no preimpact mechanical malfunctions or failures of the airplane that would have precluded normal operation.

Probable Cause and Findings
The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be: The pilot’s failure to maintain an appropriate glide path during the landing approach in variable wind conditions, which resulted in collision with trees.