Pilot Enters IMC Conditions and Impacts Hillside Near Destination Airport (N4827C)

Departure and Initial Contact About three and a half hours before departure, the instrument-rated private pilot received an abbreviated weather briefing for visual flight rules (VFR) conditions. After departing, the pilot contacted Flight Watch and was advised that VFR flight was not recommended. The pilot requested and received VFR radar traffic advisories. The controller asked the pilot to report the airport in sight, a request the pilot acknowledged. ## Loss of Visual Contact Approximately two minutes later, the controller asked if the pilot had the airport in sight. The pilot replied, “No, I'm in the soup right now.” The controller advised the pilot that he was one and a half miles north of the airport and to maintain VFR. The pilot repeated, “I'm in the soup,” and requested the current ceiling. The controller stated he did not have that information but noted the airport was equipped with an automated weather observing system (AWOS). The controller provided the AWOS frequency, and the pilot acknowledged. This was the last recorded transmission. ## Weather and Impact The airplane was destroyed when it impacted the side of a hill. Approximately eleven minutes before the accident, weather at the destination airport was visibility 1/4 mile in fog with a ceiling of 100 feet overcast. Radar data showed the airplane about 1,000 feet above ground level when it passed approximately three-quarters of a mile west of the airport.