What happened
A pilot was conducting a cross-country flight from New York to Florida. Radar data indicated the airplane was traveling southwest and maintained a level altitude of 8,700 feet until making a right turn at 17:27:42. Following this turn, the aircraft's altitude dropped to 8,500 feet at 17:27:47 and further descended to 8,300 feet by 17:27:51. At 17:28:05, the altitude was recorded at 5,300 feet, after which no further radar returns were observed.
Witnesses reported seeing the airplane break up in-flight before the primary wreckage struck a sidewalk. All major components of the aircraft were recovered within a range of 1/4 to 1/2 miles from the main impact site.
Findings
Weather conditions at the accident site included an area of instrument flight rules (IFR) conditions, surrounded by a larger area of marginal visual meteorological conditions. There was no documentation indicating that the pilot had obtained a pre-flight weather briefing.
The aircraft's most recent annual inspection had been completed 13 months before the accident. The pilot had approximately 400 hours of total flight experience. His instrument experience included 2 hours of actual instrument time and 36 hours of simulated instrument time, though all such experience had been logged approximately 10 years prior to the accident.