Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

St. Martinville, Louisiana 70582
Thursday, April 16, 1998 20:20 CDT

The non-instrument rated commercial pilot lost control of the airplane after encountering instrument meteorological conditions and moderate to severe turbulence while on a night cross-country flight. The wreckage of the airplane was located the following day in a remote unpopulated area approximately 19 miles east of Lafayette. There were no reported eye witnesses to the accident. Prior to the loss of control, the pilot received VFR traffic advisories from Air Traffic Control (ATC) while conducting flight at 11,500 feet. Radar and radio contact were lost when the airplane was about 20 nautical miles east of Lafayette. The airplane was last observed by radar at 10,200 feet. No distress calls were received from the aircraft. ATC advised the pilot of a weather advisory which called for a 30mile wide area of moderate to severe turbulence from 4,000 to 12,000 feet associated with wind shear. About 20 minutes prior to the accident, a pilot of an ATR72 airplane reported encountering moderate to severe turbulence between 5,000 and 8,000 feet, about 10.5 nm north of the accident site. The pilot had been provided with weather advisories calling for adverse weather and marginal VFR along his anticipated route of flight. No structural or mechanical anomalies were observed during an examination of the airplane.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the aircraft as a result of VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions and flight into known adverse weather conditions. Contributing factors were turbulence, clouds, dark night and lack of an instrument rating.