What happened
The pilot departed Burley, Idaho, for a flight to Chandler, Arizona, following a weather briefing and the filing of a VFR flight plan. The itinerary included a planned refueling stop in Fillmore, Utah.
Upon arriving in Fillmore, the pilot landed the aircraft on a dirt road and taxied to a roadside truck stop, where the aircraft was serviced with automotive gasoline. Following the refueling, the aircraft departed Fillable but failed to reach its destination. After an unsuccessful search by the captain, deer hunters discovered the wreckage on October 22, 1988.
The aircraft struck the top of a 30-foot pine tree and crashed into a creek embankment while maintaining a magnetic heading of 360 degrees. The impact caused the wreckage to slide down the embankment, where it came to rest inverted in the middle of the creek bed. An intense but confined fire occurred at the site following the impact. The crash site was located in Box Canyon at an elevation of 8,400 feet.
Findings
At the estimated density altitude of 11,000 feet, the aircraft's computed rate of climb was 270 fpm.