What happened
A private pilot was operating a flight under visual flight rules (VFR) when the aircraft impacted a cornfield during the cruise phase of flight. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was flying in night instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). No flight plan had been filed for the flight, and there was no record of the pilot contacting air $ ext{traffic control}$ facilities or Flight Service Stations while en route.
The weather observed approximately 26 nautical miles west of the accident site included winds from 260 degrees at 7 knots, visibility of 2 statute miles, light snow, and an overcast ceiling of 700 feet. The temperature was 1 degree Celsius with a dew point of 0 degrees Celsius.
There were no witnesses to the impact. The pilot was a private pilot but lacked instrument qualification. Logbook entries indicated that the pilot's most recent night flight occurred nine months prior to the accident, and only 0.5 hours of night time had been flown in the 30 days preceding the event.
The investigation
A post-accident inspection of the aircraft revealed no preexisting anomalies that could be associated with a pre-impact condition.