I’ve amended the details a bit to preserve anonymity. The pilot and his family came to grief on a flight that was forecast to be VFR. There was a slow-moving warm front approaching, but it appeared the 150-nm trip could be completed before conditions worsened. Friends of the pilot indicated he had intended to launch at 10:00 a.m., but a combination of delays getting out of the house and discovering some luggage had been forgotten—necessitating a 90-minute round trip—and lunch meant they didn’t get airborne in the 180-hp, four-place single until 2:30 pm.
Post-accident investigation indicated the warm front started moving faster and the weather deteriorated sooner than forecast. The airplane’s radar target went directly toward the destination for about 110 miles, and descended to only about 800 feet agl. The track then turned into the afternoon sun and haze toward an airport only seven miles away. About two minutes later, the airplane turned left and descended below radar coverage. Impact with the ground—in a steep left turn, at high speed—was a half-mile from where radar contact was lost. The probable cause was continued flight into IMC and loss of control due to spatial disorientation.
