Piper PA32 accident near Metz, West Virginia, August 11, 2022

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

The non-instrument-rated pilot was in cruise flight when he advised the air traffic controller that he was looking at his cockpit weather radar display and requested a deviation between what he described as a gap between radar echoes. The airplane subsequently transitioned through echoes consistent with areas of light, moderate, heavy, and then extreme precipitation before track data depicted a steep, descending right turn that continued until contact with the airplane was lost in the vicinity of the accident site. The damage to the airplane and the distribution of the wreckage, which was spread over a distance of 0.8 miles, were consistent with an in-flight break-up. Examination of the wreckage revealed fracture surfaces consistent with overstress failure, and no evidence of preimpact mechanical anomalies that would have prevented normal operation of the airplane. The extent of the pilot’s preflight weather planning activities could not be determined, as there was no record of him obtaining weather information from an access-controlled source. Based on his communications with air traffic control, the pilot was aware of the convective activity along his route of flight and was likely using his cockpit Next Generation Radar (NEXRAD) weather display for tactical weather avoidance decisions, and not accounting for the latencies inherent to the processes used to create and deliver this imagery to an inflight display.

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.