Flight Details
The airplane departed on a long cross-country flight. During the approach to the destination airport, the airplane entered a rain squall, stalled, and subsequently impacted the ground in an almost vertical descent.
Weather and Mechanical Status
Thunderstorms and rain squalls were present along the general route. The onboard weather radar had been removed for maintenance, but no other mechanical anomalies were identified with the airplane.
Pilot Background
The pilot was not instrument qualified. His logbook was not recovered. Although he had recently been observed flying four to five times weekly, when he applied for a multi-engine rating approximately 3½ months earlier, he reported a total of 107 hours of flight experience.
Probable Cause
The official probable cause was the non-instrument-rated pilot's continued flight into instrument meteorological conditions and his subsequent failure to maintain airspeed, which resulted in an inadvertent stall. Contributing to the accident was the instrument meteorological conditions.