FTW86FA035

Factual narrative

THE NON-INSTRUMENT RATED PVT PLT RECEIVED A WX BRIEFING THAT CALLED FOR MARGINAL VFR TO IFR CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT HIS ROUTE OF FLT. DESTINATION WX WAS BRIEFED AS 700' OVC, VIS 2 MILES IN HAZE AND FOG AND THE EN ROUTE WX WAS CONSIDERABLY WORSE. SEVERAL WITNESSES OBSERVED THE ACFT FLYING IN AND OUT OF THE FOG AND LOW CEILING. AT ONE POINT, THE ACFT WAS OBSERVED FLYING DOWN AN INTERSTATE HWY. THE ACFT IMPACTED THE GROUND IN A 42 DEG NOSE DOWN, 46 DEG RIGHT BANK ATTITUDE, AT HIGH SPEED. A WITNESS WHO OBSERVED THE IMPACT ESTIMATED THE WX AS 200' CEILING, 1/2 MILE VISIBILITY WITH FOG. A REVIEW OF THE PLTS LOGS REVEALED THAT HE HAD LOGGED 1 HOUR OF SIMULATED INSTRUMENT TIME SINCE HE BEGAN INSTRUCTION. INVESTIGATION REVEALED NO EVIDENCE OF INFLIGHT FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF AIRFRAME, ENG OR ACFT SYSTEMS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12