Accident Overview
A private pilot, who was not instrument rated, was conducting a cross-country flight at 7,500 feet when he reported to air traffic control (ATC) that he wanted to descend due to haze. The flight descended to 5,200 feet, and the pilot requested another descent. ATC informed the pilot that radar contact would be lost below 5,500 feet, so the pilot elected to remain at that altitude and repeated that conditions were hazy.
Flight History
The final radar data depicted the airplane descending and making a right corkscrew ground track. A witness located near the accident site heard the sound of a motor speed up, followed by the sound of an aircraft clearing a ridge and impacting the ground. After the impact, the witness saw a flash of a fire ball. The witness noted that it was too foggy to see the airplane.
Wreckage Examination
Local residents reported that the weather was foggy and misty at the time of the accident. The airplane's outboard wing sections separated in overload and came to rest in trees on the north side of a ridge. The fuselage impacted trees and terrain on the south side of the ridge, approximately 0.2 miles from the outboard wing sections, with a measured descent angle of 50 degrees. All control cable and structural separations were consistent with an overload failure.
Pilot Information
The pilot held a private pilot certificate without an instrument rating. It is unknown how much, if any, instrument or simulated instrument flight time the pilot had accumulated. Metabolites of cocaine were found in the pilot's muscle tissue; however, it could not be determined when the pilot may have used cocaine.