PIPER PA-46-310P MALIBU, OSTENN, FLA., JUNE 14, 2002–Trying to thread through a hole in an area of thunderstorms on an IFR flight from Raleigh, N.C. to Marco Island, Fla., the pilot of Malibu N9143B asked ATC for a deviation 12 miles to the west. He attempted to fly through an area of light radar echoes between the two large areas of heavier echoes. N9143B departed level flight, and radar showed that a cluster of Level Three to Four thunderstorms was present in the vicinity of its position. The airplane started an uncontrolled descent from FL260. Witnesses reported hearing the engine make a winding noise, then the airplane came out of the clouds about 300 feet above the ground, in a nose-low spiral, with the right wing missing. The right wing was found 1.62 miles from the main wreckage.
The NTSB determined the probable cause was the pilot’s inadequate weather evaluation and his failure to maintain control of the airplane after entering an area of thunderstorms, resulting in the in-flight separation of the right wing and right horizontal stabilizer and an uncontrolled descent.
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