Cirrus Design Corp SR22 — Front Royal, VA

What happened

The pilot departed from runway 27 on a night instrument flight rules flight in marginal visual meteorological conditions. Rising mountainous terrain was located west of the departure airport. The pilot's first waypoint was located northeast of the airport. There was no record of the pilot previously departing the airport at night. Recorded data from the airplane's primary flight display showed that during controlled flight just prior to impact the airplane was climbing and accelerating, reaching a pressure altitude of approximately 2,200 feet mean sea level (msl) and an indicated airspeed of 140 knots. About 6 seconds before the end of the recording, the airplane began a steep descending turn to the left (roll attitude reached a peak value of 95 degrees left wing down, pitch attitude reached a peak of about 27 degrees nose down). The airplane collided with the rising terrain, about 4 miles west of the airport, at about the 1,200 msl level while on a southerly heading. Recorded weather about the time of the accident included a broken ceiling at 2,400 feet, overcast ceiling at 3,000 feet, visibility 3 miles in rain, and winds from 340 degrees at 4 knots. Examination of the airplane, airplane systems, engine, and propeller did not reveal any preimpact mechanical failures or malfunctions.

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