Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Bishop, California 93514
Monday, May 26, 2003 15:35 PDT

The airplane collided with upsloping, high mountainous terrain at an elevation of 12,660 feet mean sea level while maneuvering low to the terrain and below the tops of the peaks and ridge lines west of the accident site. Ground scars and crush deformation to the airplane is consistent with the airplane colliding with the ground in a stall/mush descent. The pilot had departed South Lake Tahoe for an intended nonstop flight to a Southern California airport. As documented by 81digital photographs taken by a passenger, the route of flight included flying over the Yosemite National Park and other scenic areas the Sierra Nevada mountains. En route scattered high clouds were predominant and the weather reports showed benign conditions over the area of the accident. The last few pictures taken by the passenger near the accident site showed the airplane generally flying in a southeasterly direction and at elevations below that of the surrounding mountains. Following the airplane's departure, there were no communications or services provided by any FAA facility. The accident occurred after the airplane had been flying for 1.9 hours. No evidence of any radar track consistent with the airplane's course was found in the vicinity of the accident site. The lowest altitude at which a target is visible on radar in the vicinity of the accident site is 13,300 feet. The wreckage was found on a Sierra Nevada mountain plateau, oriented in an easterly direction facing lower elevation terrain. One mile east of the accident site, over the edge of the plateau, the elevation decreased to about 11,300 feet msl. About 10 miles farther east, the elevation decreased to about 4,900 feet msl. The airplane was equipped with a normally aspirated, 260-horsepower engine, and with reduced gross weight the airplane could climb to a service ceiling of 15,000 feet. The density altitude at the accident site was also about 15,000 feet. No evidence of any mechanical malfunction was found during the wreckage examination.

The pilot's failure to maintain an adequate airspeed while maneuvering close to the ground over mountainous terrain in a high density altitude environment near the upper performance capability of the airplane, which resulted in an inadvertent stall/mush into the terrain. Contributing factors were the pilot's improper in-flight decision to fly low over high elevation, upsloping mountainous terrain, and the high density altitude.