CIRRUS SR22 — Gulf of Mexico

What happened

After takeoff from the coastal airport, the airplane made a left turn to the west, and the pilot was approved for a frequency change by air traffic control. There were no further known communications with the pilot. A radar target consistent with the airplane's departure was observed flying westbound over gulf waters. The target climbed to an altitude of 9,900 feet mean sea level (msl), where it remained until radar contact was lost. The last radar target was observed about 1 hour after takeoff, about 150 miles west-southwest of the departure airport, traveling at a ground speed of 167 knots. The pilot's spouse was not aware that he had been flying and reported the airplane missing 2 days later. Search and Rescue personnel conducted three sorties which covered 1,890 square miles with negative results. At the time of this writing, the location of the airplane, and the condition of the pilot, are not known. The airplane had accumulated about 500 hours of operation since new, and 100 hours since its most recent annual inspection, which was performed about 8 months prior to the flight. The pilot had accumulated about 700 hours of total flight experience, which included about 520 hours in the accident airplane.

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