20020306003909A

(-23) About 10 minutes after departure from rhv enroute to lapaz Mexico, the aircraft experienced loss of communication and an apparent loss of control for unknown reasons. Within three to four minutes after last communication, the aircraft impacted the ground in an inverted position after experiencing an inflight structural failure due to a positive g overload. (.19) on March 6, 2002, at 1035 pacific standard time, a Cessna 425, N444JV, experienced a loss of control and a subsequent in-flight breakup at san jose, California. The aircraft descended to ground impact in an area of rolling, hilly pasture land. The aircraft was owned and operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 CFR part 91 of the federal aviation regulations. The aircraft was destroyed in the accident sequence. The instrument rated private pilot and two passengers sustained fatal injuries. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at the altitude where the loss of control occurred. The flight departed the reid-hillview airport in san jose at 1029 and was en route nonstop to la paz, Mexico. An instrument flight rules flight plan was filed and the pilot had received an instrument clearance prior to departure. According to a review of recorded air-to-ground communications tapes and radar data obtained from the federal aviation administration (FAA) bay terminal radar approach control facility, the aircraft was initially cleared after takeoff to climb to 13,000 feet mean sea level (MSL) on radar vectors to victor airway 485. The controller issued a heading of 110 degrees, then told the pilot to intercept the airway and proceed on course. The communications tapes, along with recorded radar data, disclosed that about 8,000 feet the pilot stated that he had "just lost my needle . . . Give me . . ." There were no further communications from the aircraft. The radar data then showed the target for the aircraft began a series of erratic turns, including a 180-degree turn, as the mode c altitude reports varied from 7,100 feet to 8,600 feet, back down to 8,100 feet, and then up again to 8,500 feet. The last two mode c reports indicated altitudes of 7,000 and 4,100 feet before the secondary beacon return went into coast mode. A ground witness to the accident was riding a horse near the ground impact site and was attracted to the airplane by a loud "screaming" jet sound. She looked up and saw the aircraft descend out of the clouds "in a cork-screw pattern." As the airplane got close to the ground, the flight path changed from a descent to a climb while still in the corkscrew turn. The witness then heard a loud sound she characterized as like an explosion or gunshot. The airplane then rolled level, and continued in an arcing horizontal spin until it disappeared behind a hill. Other ground witnesses located on a nearby golf course reported that they saw parts falling from the aircraft as it descended to the ground. The wreckage was found distributed over 0.3-nautical mile distance on a median magnetic bearing of 102 degrees. The most distant debris from the main fuselage wreckage consisted of the right wing tip. The debris field between this point and the fuselage consisted of right wing outer panel components, the right aileron, the complete horizontal stabilizer assembly, the upper half of the rudder, and the left elevator. All control surfaces and their associated mass balance weights were accounted for in the debris field. According to weather information provided by the FAA oakland flight service station, the cloud tops in the area of the accident were 9,500 feetmsl, and the freezing level was 6,000 feet.