What happened
On the morning of the accident, the pilot intended to complete a scheduled engagement, having originally filed an instrument flight rules flight plan for a 0700 departure. The pilot and a passenger arrived at the airfield around 0800 and requested refueling services. At 0917, the aircraft was moved from its heated hangar into conditions characterized by heavy snowfall to undergo fueling. During the time the aircraft remained outside, a layer of wet, slushy snow gathered on the airframe.
Although the manager of the Fixed Base Operator recommended that the aircraft undergo deicing, the pilot declined the service. To avoid the plane becoming stuck in the accumulating snow, it was moved to a taxiway. At 0939, the pilot commenced the takeoff roll in visibility of 0.75 miles with a 4-knot tailwind. Following takeoff, the pilot executed a right turn and signaled the start of the flight toward the first waypoint. During this maneuver, the aircraft entered an increasingly tight right turn and eventually struck the ground in an inverted position roughly one mile north-northwest of the runway.
Findings
An investigation of the wreckage of the aircraft showed that the engine and airframe were free of mechanical anomalies that could have caused the loss of control. However, the aircraft's flight manual explicitly mandates that all snow, ice, and frost must be removed from lifting surfaces before takeoff. The accumulation of slushy snow on the wings prior to departure was a critical factor in the accident.