What happened
The pilot was operating an aircraft in a loose formation with two other planes while traversing mountainous terrain. During the flight, the pilot noticed that the two lead aircraft had disappeared behind a ragged cloud layer. In response to this loss of visual reference, the pilot elected to execute a course reversal to regain situational awareness or return to a known position.
However, during the execution of this maneuver, the pilot determined that there was inadequate terrain clearance available. The aircraft subsequently struck trees on rising terrain and crashed as a result of these conditions.
Findings
The primary factors contributing to the accident were the pilot's decision to continue flight into deteriorating visual meteorological conditions over rugged topography and the subsequent loss of terrain clearance during the reversal maneuver.