What happened
The flight began with the pilot securing a weather briefing that indicated no significant hazards along the intended path. After departing at 0853, the aircraft type climbed to FL190 and proceeded without incident for the first two hours. At 1053, the flight was transferred to the Jacksonville Air Route Traffic Control Center. Shortly after, controllers issued a warning regarding SIGMET 32E, which identified thunderstorms southwest of the flight path.
Following instructions to descend, the pilot contacted Tyndall Approach and requested a lower altitude to avoid weather cells. While the pilot was being cleared to descend to 6,000 feet, the aircraft was positioned northwest of the REBBA intersection. The pilot was subsequently cleared to descend to 3,000 feet at their discretion, but communication was lost shortly thereafter. Controllers were unable to re-establish contact or maintain radar tracking.
A witness near the crash site reported hearing a loud explosion and observing the aircraft in a nose-down spiral, noting that debris was seen separating from the plane. The witness also described active lightning and heavy rain in the immediate vicinity. The wreckage was recovered near a swamp in a heavily wooded and grassy area. The left wing, left engine, and left wing tip tank were found approximately 0.6 miles from the primary debris field, with the wing having separated from the fuselage.
Findings
Investigation of the wreckage revealed that the left wing's front and rear spars suffered failure due to catastrophic static up-bending overstress. Although air traffic controllers reported no weather displayed directly ahead of the flight, radar data confirmed the presence of moderate to extreme precipitation on the route. The aircraft flew through an intense thunderstorm radar echo. While the aircraft was equipped with a functional weather radar system capable of detecting storms up to 240 miles away, the pilot was not provided with real-time updates regarding the approaching weather during the descent.