Accident Details
The pilot, his brother, and his sister-in-law were on a flight to attend the pilot's mother's funeral. Before departure, the pilot received a weather briefing and was advised that visual flight rules (VFR) flight was not recommended. The pilot then requested weather reports for a southerly route and was informed that the mountain tops were obscured on that route. He indicated that he would try and that maybe the weather would clear enough for him to get through.
Subsequently, the aircraft crashed on the side of Mount Democrat, a 14,286 ft mountain, at the 13,800 ft level. Evidence showed that the aircraft impacted in near level flight. No preimpact part failure or malfunction was found that would have contributed to the accident.
Weather Conditions
The area forecast called for mountains and higher terrain to be occasionally obscured in clouds and precipitation; Rocky Mountains 3,000 to 6,000 ft through 20,000 ft with occasional ceilings below 1,000 ft and visibility below 3 miles in snow and fog.