Accident Details
The crew arrived at the airport approximately 20 minutes before the planned midnight departure. The pilot-in-command had spent the day moving furniture. A night watchman observed that the preflight inspection and the takeoff roll through rotation and lift-off appeared normal. No post-takeoff radio call was made to either Unicom or ATC, despite the crew having filed an IFR flight plan.
After taking off from runway 36, the aircraft crashed about 1.8 miles north of the runway. The wreckage was discovered following an interruption of electrical power to a nearby city. The initial impact was with trees while the aircraft was in a shallow, left, descending turn. An area of trees approximately half a mile long was damaged by the impact and resulting fire. Before coming to rest, the aircraft struck a powerline support tower. Evidence indicated the aircraft was traveling at about 260 knots at the time of the crash.
Investigation
No preimpact part failure or malfunction was found that would have caused the accident. Both pilots were killed.
Probable Cause
The official probable cause was the pilot-in-command's failure to ensure that the aircraft maintained a climb profile after takeoff. Factors related to the accident were the dark night, the crew's lack of visual perception at night, the pilot-in-command's lack of rest (fatigue), and the copilot's failure to take remedial action.