Accident Details
A certificated private pilot and a passenger were on a personal cross-country flight. When they failed to arrive, they were reported overdue. The following day, search personnel located the accident site after receiving a signal from the aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT). The airplane was found resting on the east face of a 4,000-foot mountain at an elevation of 3,500 feet.
Pilot and Weather
The pilot held a private pilot certificate but was not instrument rated. Prior to departure, the pilot obtained a weather briefing. The briefing included forecast flight precautions and a recommendation that visual flight rules (VFR) flight was not recommended. The pilot subsequently opened a VFR flight plan, during which the briefer again stressed that VFR flight was not recommended.
Weather conditions along the intended route were reported as mountain obscuration, moderate turbulence, broken cloud ceilings between 1,500 and 2,000 feet with various layers, and coastal areas experiencing limited visibility of 3 to 5 miles in fog and haze, with some scattered light rain showers.
Findings
The accident occurred in mountainous terrain under conditions that were not conducive to VFR flight. The pilot's lack of an instrument rating limited options for navigating through the forecast weather. No official probable cause has been stated in the source material.