The airplane was destroyed on impact with terrain following a descent from cruise. An in-flight break up occurred during the descent. Night visual meteorological surface conditions prevailed in the area at the time of the accident. No flight plan was on file. The pilot had received a weather brief from a Direct User Access Terminal Service (DUATS) for the flight. Radar data showed the airplane was on a northeast heading. At 1902:14.0, the airplane's radar return showed the airplane was about one mile southwest of the accident site at 11,600 feet above mean sea level (MSL). At 1902:18.8, it was at 10,700 feet MSL. At 1902:23.6, it was at 9,800 feet MSL. At 1902:32.7, it was at 7,300 feet MSL. A witness who lived within 300 feet of the crash site stated, "I heard ... something coming [through] this complex that was out of control (real fast) a lot of rumbling (loud whizzing/roaring sounds) then all of a sudden I heard a[n] engine sound like it was at full throttle wide open, then an explosion/impact." A second witness stated, "We heard a really loud noise above us. We were looking up at the plane as we heard the noise, and then we saw lights on the plane start spiraling down. We watched it spiral to the ground and it crashed. The ground shook and [debris] starting flying around us." The pilot was not instrument current. The airplane's stalling speed at gross weight with flaps and landing gear up was 75 mph and its top speed was 194 mph. A pilot near the area reported that the cloud tops were at 11,300 feet above mean sea level and that he encountered moderate rime icing. The moon was below the horizon. Continuous Data Recording (CDR), which is airplane radar track data, was plotted on Doppler weather radar base reflectivity depictions. That plotted data showed that the airplane cruised along an area of weather aloft consistent with moisture and temperatures below freezing. Calculated speed plots from the CDR data showed that the airplane was cruising at an airspeed of about 95 -100 knots before decreasing to 78 - 80 knots just prior to the beginning of the high rate of descent. A review of the speed plots showed that the airplane's airspeed had increased to about 225 knots at the last radar return. An airplane owner reported the accident pilot stated that he routinely flew at 10,500 and 11,500 feet MSL and that he avoided using air traffic control flight following services. No pre-impact anomalies were detected during an on-scene investigation of the airplane wreckage.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident as follows:

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