Sequence of Events
Shortly after midnight, an airplane arrived near Joplin, Missouri. At 0011:38, Kansas City Air Route Traffic Control Center (ZKC) advised the pilot that the weather at Joplin Regional Airport (JLN) was 800 feet broken, 5,000 feet overcast, with 10 miles visibility. Operating under visual flight rules, the pilot requested an instrument approach. ZKC cleared the pilot to JLN and provided radar vectors for the Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to runway 13.
At 0031:35, the pilot reported warning flags for the localizer and glide slope. The pilot then elected to transition to the ILS for runway 18, and ZKC issued vectors for that approach. At 0033:46, ZKC asked if the pilot had plenty of fuel; the pilot confirmed 2 hours of fuel remained.
Approach and Loss of Contact
At 0042:30, ZKC cleared the pilot for the ILS approach. Radar contact was lost at 0046:36. The pilot stated they were at 2,700 feet and descending. At 0048:40, ZKC transmitted that the airplane was over JLN at 2,400 feet. The pilot declared a missed approach and requested another approach to runway 18.
At 0055:16, the pilot transmitted, "... we're having a little problem here I think we've lost an engine I'm trying to get leveled off here and get back to 4,000 feet." ZKC advised the pilot to keep them advised. At 0056:06, ZKC reported the airplane descending below 2,300 feet, with no response from the pilot. The last radar positions placed the airplane 3 miles east of JLN in a rapid descent.
Witness Observations
Ground witnesses heard an airplane making several passes over Carterville, Missouri. One witness reported that on the third pass, it sounded like a single-engine airplane. Another witness saw the airplane's lights and described it pitching up into a 30-degree nose-high climb, rolling counterclockwise, then entering a 45-degree dive toward the ground. The airplane continued its counterclockwise roll until lost from sight behind trees.
A witness across the street from a house that the airplane struck reported hearing a loud, fast nosedive barrel roll, with the engine sounding like one, not two.
Post-Accident Examination
An examination of the airplane revealed no pre-impact anomalies. The published decision height for the ILS/DME runway 18 approach at JLN is 1,165 feet. The pilot had 6,823.8 total flying hours, with approximately 1,440 hours in multi-engine airplanes. The pilot's last recorded flight in a multi-engine airplane was in a Cessna 337 on October 26, 2000. According to the previous owner, the pilot was checked out in the accident airplane 6 days before the accident.