February 23, Arlington, Ala. / Piper Malibu

At 0849 central time, a Piper PA-46-310P broke up in flight in the vicinity of Arlington. The pilot and passenger were killed. The flight had departed Panama City, Fla., on an IFR flight plan at 0738. The pilot had asked the Atlanta Center controller for clearance to deviate to the north to get around some build-ups at 0819. The controller asked the pilot if he encountered any rime icing in his area, and the pilot stated no. The pilot was cleared to FL230 and instructed to contact another sector of Atlanta Center at 0827. The pilot made the frequency change and informed the new controller that he was climbing to FL230. The controller informed the pilot to climb to FL250 and amended the climb clearance to FL240 at 08:30:23. The pilot acknowledged. There were no further radio communications with the airplane. The wreckage was scattered over a half mile.