What happened
Following a departure from Spirit of St. Louis Airport, the flight proceeded toward Springfield Regional Airport, a journey typically lasting between 50 and 60 minutes. At the time of the flight, the aircraft's left wing tanks contained approximately 25 to 30 gallons of fuel, while the right wing tanks held between 75 and 80 gallons. The engines had a consumption rate of roughly 25 to 30 gallons per hour, and the aircraft had not been refueled before the return leg of the trip.
Approximately five minutes after takeoff, the aircraft type reached an altitude of 4,300 feet MSL and began descending at a rate of 402 feet per minute. The aircraft traveled roughly 7 nautical miles away from the airport before performing a 180-degree left turn. As the aircraft reached 2,200 feet MSL and was 10 miles from the destination, the pilot notified air traffic control of a partial engine failure on the left side. The aircraft subsequently struck the ground in a vertical, nose-down, and inverted position. The landing gear was extended at the time of impact. The crash resulted in fatalities (as implied by the impact nature and destruction), though specific counts were not provided in the source.
Findings
Post-accident analysis showed that the right engine, right wing, fuselage, and empennage sustained significant fire damage. The left wing experienced fire damage between the wing root and the nacelle, though the left engine and nacelle remained largely intact. Investigations of the airframe and engines found no mechanical anomalies that would have hindered standard operation. A critical factor identified was that the Airplane Flight Manual lacked instructions for fuel cross-feeding to manage fuel exhaustion in specific wing tanks.