Piper PA-28-235 accident near St. Ignaces, Michigan, September 14, 1997

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

The noninstrument-rated pilot departed for a cross-country flight in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The airplane was reported missing the following day. Radar data showed the airplane traveling south from the airport about 25 miles over Lake Huron, then turning north before disappearing from radar. The airplane was not located during the initial search but was found about 21 years after it was reported missing in a heavily forested area. A friend of the pilot stated that, while flying together in IMC, he allowed the pilot to assume control of the airplane three times and that, each time, the pilot experienced vertigo and the friend had to intervene to regain airplane control. Weather conditions along the flight route included cloud ceilings as low as 400 ft above ground level. It is possible the pilot departed believing he could fly under the cloud ceilings. However, radar data showing the airplane flying south and then turning north before disappearing from radar indicates that the airplane likely encountered weather too adverse for the pilot to navigate through and that the pilot subsequently altered the flight route to find improved weather or an alternate landing location but subsequently crashed the airplane. Based on available evidence, it could not be determined if the pilot experienced vertigo, spatial disorientation, or controlled flight into terrain due to the low visibility conditions. Given the weather conditions and that the pilot was not instrument rated, he should not have departed in IMC; instead, he should have delayed his departure until the weather conditions improved to allow flight in visual meteorological conditions.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.