MOONEY M20J — Collinsville, OK

What happened

The pilot and passenger were on the return leg of a cross-country flight. Before departing from his home airfield, the pilot filed the outbound and return legs for the instrument flight rules flight as, "GPS direct." The surface wind was reported as 17 knots gusting to 24 knots with a ceiling at 2,000 feet. Shortly after departure, the pilot contacted air traffic control and was given a clearance to 6,000 feet and an amended flight routing. About 5 minutes later, the airplane disappeared from radar, and the pilot did not respond to the air traffic controller's radio call. Witnesses reported seeing the airplane at a steep angle and at a high rate of speed before it impacted terrain. The wreckage was largely fragmented, and a postcrash fire consumed a large portion of the airplane. The airplane's bottom skin panel was located about 1.4 miles from the accident site; because of its location, it is likely the airplane's skin panel separated during the high-speed descent. Review of radar data revealed the airplane climbed to about 4,300 feet and then entered a right descending turn before disappearing from radar. Examination of the wreckage did not reveal any abnormalities that would have precluded normal operation. The reason for the pilot's loss of control could not be determined. An autopsy was not conducted; therefore, it would not be determined whether a medical or physiological issue contributed to the accident.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.