Accident Details
A low-level cruise flight ended when the airplane collided with terrain within 2 minutes of takeoff. The student pilot arrived at the airport during nighttime hours when the flight school was closed. He was not scheduled to fly that night and was not endorsed for night flight. He removed keys from the lockbox to an airplane of a type he had never before flown and for which he was not endorsed. He entered the airplane without a preflight inspection, started the engine with difficulty, and then proceeded to the runway and took off without pausing for any pretakeoff checks.
Flight Path
The airplane was observed to take off into the clear night, turn, and fly into a mountainside about 2 miles distant.
Observer Accounts
The pilot's flight instructor and the owner of the flight school both found the pilot's behavior on the night of the accident completely out of character for him.
Investigation Context
A local law enforcement official said the pilot was the subject of a criminal investigation and that a search warrant had been served on his home earlier the same day while the pilot was not home. The pilot returned home to find that entry to his home had been forced and records and a computer were seized.
Coroner's Ruling
The local coroner ruled the death a suicide.