Accident Overview
According to flight planning data recovered from the wreckage, the flight departed Louisville, Kentucky, bound for Gainesville, Florida. Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes later, the airplane collided with terrain at the 4,300-foot level of a 4,400-foot ridgeline located about 22 miles southeast of Knoxville, Tennessee.
Flight Planning
The pilot did not file a flight plan, and no radio or transponder contact was made with any air traffic control facility during the flight.
Weather and Pilot Qualifications
At the time of the accident, the reported cloud condition for Knoxville was a ceiling of 3,200 feet above ground level, or 4,200 feet above mean sea level. The pilot was not instrument flight rules (IFR) qualified. When queried by the Green Bay Automated Flight Service Station briefer about intentions in areas of cloudiness, the pilot stated, "probably stay below" the clouds.
Investigation Findings
Investigators found no evidence of any precrash malfunction with the airframe, engine, or its components, either at the accident site or during a subsequent teardown inspection.