What happened
Following a routine departure to collect a passenger approximately 75 nm away, the crew climbed to 11,000 ft msl. The flight proceeded without any reported communication irregularities between the pilots and air traffic control. As the aircraft descended toward the destination airport, it transitioned through regions containing light to heavy icing, with a significant probability of encountering supercooled large droplets.
While maintaining 4,000 ft msl, the aircraft remained in icing conditions before being cleared for an instrument approach. Upon crossing the final approach fix at 2,800 ft msl, the aircraft emerged from the overcast layer. During the descent, the controller notified the crew of a vehicle on the runway, a message which the crew acknowledged. This served as the final communication from the flight.
Witnesses and surveillance footage indicated that while the aircraft was flying in a stable, level manner, it abruptly entered a steep, spinning, and nearly vertical descent. The aircraft struck a commercial business parking lot, colliding with several unoccupied vehicles and resulting in a post-impact fire. There were 0 fatalities and 0 injuries reported among the occupants.
Findings
Investigation of the airframe and engines showed no mechanical issues that would have prevented normal engine performance. Although the aircraft was equipped with pneumatic deice boots, the post-impact fire destroyed the anti-icing system's control switches, making it impossible to confirm their operational status.
Evidence suggests the airframe likely accumulated ice on its control surfaces during the approach. While the deice system should have been sufficient to manage ice buildup based on flight performance data, the sudden loss of control was likely caused by ice accumulation on the tailplane. It is believed that the aerodynamic shift caused by extending the landing gear and flaps triggered a tailplane stall, leading to an unrecoverable attitude at a low altitude. Toxicological analysis found traces of delta-8 THC metabolites in the pilot, but findings indicated this was unlikely to have contributed to the accident.