What happened
A pilot, who was not instrument rated, was attempting to maintain visual flight rules (VFR) on top when the aircraft encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) at 17,500 feet. Following the encounter with IMC, the pilot attempted maneuvers to return to visual meteorological conditions (VMC), which resulted in an uncontrolled descent. During this descent, the right wing separated from the aircraft.
The pilot remained at altitudes above 14,000 feet for approximately one hour. There was no record of a preflight weather briefing conducted for this flight. However, the pilot had obtained two inflight weather briefings prior to the accident. The first briefing, received 1.5 hours before the crash, indicated that VFR was not recommended and suggested an alternative route to avoid the weather. A second inflight briefing, obtained 20 minutes before the crash, again suggested a flight route to avoid the weather; despite these warnings, the pilot continued the flight until encountering IMC.