What happened
At approximately 1330 local time, the pilot departed from the airport for an unspecified destination while flying under visual flight rules. The aircraft crashed into terrain roughly 12 nautical miles from the departure airfield. Because there were no witnesses and no recorded flight track or telemetry data available, the exact flight path and the precise time of the impact remain undetermined.
Post-accident inspections of the aircraft and its engines showed no mechanical failures or anomalies that would have prevented the plane from operating normally prior to the crash. While the exact timing of the accident is unknown, weather conditions following the departure indicated that the aircraft may have entered an area of declining visibility and instrument meteorological conditions, which could have obscured the ground.
Findings
Investigation of the wreckage indicated that the impact signatures were consistent with a loss of control and subsequent contact with the terrain. The pilot was operating the aircraft with a non-functional GPS, a factor that may have hindered the ability to maintain situational awareness during the flight.
Regarding the pilot, an autopsy was performed, but the state of the remains prevented investigators from determining if natural disease or an impairing condition played a role in the accident. Although toxicological tests identified an unspecified amount of ethanol, investigators noted this could have resulted from postmortem production; therefore, the results were insufficient to confirm or rule out alcohol impairment.