Incident Details
On the morning of the flight, the pilot received a weather briefing at 0638 PST for a flight to Sacramento, California, and was advised that Visual Flight Rules (VFR) were not recommended. At 0800, he obtained another briefing and filed a VFR flight plan to Palm Springs, California. During the flight, he notified Palm Springs Tower that if he could navigate through the weather, he intended to continue to Sacramento.
Radio and radar contact were lost approximately 7 miles west of the airport at an altitude of 2,500 feet mean sea level (MSL). When the aircraft did not arrive at its destination, a search was initiated. The aircraft was not located until September 13, 1983, when hikers found it approximately 15 miles northwest of Redlands, California, at an elevation of about 6,600 feet.
Wreckage Examination
Examination of the wreckage revealed that the aircraft had crashed in an inverted, nose-down attitude in mountainous terrain. Mountain tops in the area ranged from 10,831 to 11,502 feet MSL. Cloud bases were reported at 2,700 feet.
Pilot Experience
According to the pilot's logbook, he had flown 5 hours in 1974, 1.4 hours in 1982, and 11.7 hours in 1983. The certified flight instructor (CFI) who conducted the pilot's checkout in the aircraft noted that Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight was not recommended until the pilot received more dual instruction.