What happened
Before the flight, the pilot acknowledged the presence of thunderstorms along the intended path and planned to navigate around any significant weather. During the flight, the pilot maintained contact with air traffic control, receiving various weather updates and reports from other aircraft. As the flight progressed, the pilot encountered a line of thunderstorms stretching east to west across the flight path.
Upon entering this weather, the pilot reported experiencing heavy turbulence and downdrafts reaching 2,000 feet per minute. The pilot requested a course reversal to avoid the storm cells and subsequently declared an emergency, notifying controllers that the aircraft was flying upside down. Following this transmission, all communication ceased and radar contact was lost.
Findings
Radar analysis showed the aircraft moved south and then southwest into a highly intense radar echo. Satellite imagery identified this area as a rapidly developing cumulonimbus cloud with an overshooting top, signifying a storm at its peak intensity. The discovery of two separate debris fields near the location of the intense storm cell suggests the aircraft underwent an inflight breakup after penetrating the core of the thunderstorm. It is believed that the intense nature of the radar echoes may have prevented the onboard weather radar from accurately displaying the storm's structure, likely leading to an unintentional penetration of the most severe weather.