Flight Planning and Weather Briefing
A weather briefing was provided to the pilot before departure. The briefer relayed flight precautions for occasional mountain obscuration and instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). However, the pilot was not given a forecast for thunderstorms, nor was he advised that VFR flight was not recommended. The route of flight was depicted as marginal VFR, as was the destination at Morgantown (MGM). The pilot was told that the MGM weather was partially obscured, with an estimated ceiling of 1700 feet overcast, visibility 1 mile in moderate rain and fog. The briefer described these conditions as marginal VFR and stated, "Looks like they're forecasting to continue to deteriorate through tonight and become IFR by morning."
Accident Sequence
The non-instrument rated pilot took off to transport a passenger to a high school reunion. The flight was between Manassas and Morgantown. Subsequently, the aircraft struck the 2900-foot level of an obscured 3368-foot mountain. The wreckage path was along a southeasterly direction toward Manassas. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was found.
Pilot Information
The pilot had recently flown about 1 hour of dual instruction in actual IMC, but his total instrument time was not determined.