What happened
The aircrew departed from Dayton International Airport on an instrument flight rules (IFR) clearance destined for Piqua Municipal Airport and later Sidney, Ohio. The primary objective of the flight was to conduct practice approaches at these locations before returning to the origin airport. During the initial phase of the flight, the copilot reported that the aircraft entered cloud cover at an altitude between 700 and 800 feet above ground level (AGL). Following this entry, the copilot stated he did not see the ground again for the remainder of the flight.
As the aircraft operated within the clouds, ice began accumulating on the airframe. This accumulation reportedly dissipated when the crew descended toward Piqua. However, the crew was unable to execute a visual approach and performed a missed approach at Piqua without sighting the airport. The copilot noted that the aircraft struggled to achieve a satisfactory rate of climb during this maneuver.
At 12:58 Eastern Standard Time, the aircrew contacted air traffic control to request vectors back to Dayton rather than continuing to Sidney. They reported encountering both ice and turbulence. Controllers issued a vector, but approximately 30 seconds later, the crew advised that they could no longer maintain their assigned altitude of 3,000 feet. ATC informed the crew that vectors were not available below 3,000 feet but noted that Sidney Airport was located at their two o'clock position at a distance of less than one mile. Shortly after this communication, the aircraft crashed into a wooded area approximately 1.5 miles west of the airport. Rain was reportedly encountered in the airspace between Piqua and Sidney.