Weather Briefing and Approach
During preflight weather briefings, the pilot was advised of icing conditions in the Denver area. While approaching Denver, the pilot radioed, "Can you get me down, it's a little bit icy up here." Air traffic control subsequently asked the pilot and gave a close turn onto the outer marker. The aircraft was observed to overfly the airport at about 500 feet above ground level.
Missed Approach and Loss of Control
The pilot acknowledged the missed approach instructions. One minute later, the pilot reported "lots of ice" and "I'm stalling out." The aircraft then lost control during the missed approach phase.
Pilot Background and Aircraft Loading
The pilot reportedly did not like to fly approaches to minimums and set the altitude alerter to an altitude above minimums as a safety margin. The pilot had logged 3.5 hours of actual instrument time and 4.1 hours of simulated instrument time, along with 3 instrument approaches in the preceding six months. The aircraft's center of gravity was 6 inches aft of the aft center of gravity limit.
Official Findings
The investigation identified three occurrences: an in-flight encounter with weather, a loss of control during missed approach, and an in-flight collision with terrain. Findings included intentional flight into known icing conditions, improper IFR procedures, decision height not attained, underconfidence in personal ability, lack of recent instrument time, and ice accumulation on the wing. Contributing factors were dark night, snow, low ceiling, and the pilot's improper execution of the missed approach.