CIRRUS DESIGN CORP SR20 — Moscow, TN

What happened

The non-instrument rated pilot departed the airport in instrument meteorological conditions with no flight plan filed for the personal flight. Prior to the flight, an employee at the departure airport who talked to the pilot reported that the pilot stated he was in a "hurry to depart due to possible bad weather in the area." A review of radar data indicated that a radar target identified as the accident airplane flew for about 25 minutes after takeoff at a relatively constant altitude of about 1,000 feet mean sea level (msl). Then, the radar target began to climb at 0849:55 with intermittent descents of one to two hundred feet. The last radar return at 0852:27 indicated an altitude of 2,600 feet msl, which was in the vicinity of the accident location. Postaccident analysis of position information recovered from an enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) showed that last 10 seconds of recorded data exhibits a steadily increasing negative vertical speed rate. The last two seconds of data recorded a 5,000 foot per minute descent up to a 15,000 foot per minute descent. The roll rate of the airplane in the last 10 seconds of recorded data varied from a 24 degree roll to the right to a 28 degree roll to the left. During the final moments of the recorded flight data, ground speed peaked around 140 knots, and then decreases to 20 knots in two seconds. Examination of the wreckage revealed no evidence of any pre-impact mechanical malfunctions or failures. Analyses of weather information and witness statements were consistent in depicting conditions likely to have produced restricted visibility at the time of the accident. Therefore, it is likely that the restricted visibility conditions and  the airplane’s turning ground track would have been conducive to the development of spatial disorientation. Subsequently, the rapid descent and steep bank angle could have resulted from the pilot losing control of the airplane due to spatial disorientation.

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