What happened
The accident occurred during a night instrument training flight conducted in mountainous terrain. The aircraft was being flown by a certified flight instructor (CFI) who had a student pilot under instruction. At the time of the incident, the student pilot was wearing a view-limiting device, commonly referred to as a hood, which restricted their external visual references and required them to rely entirely on instrument scanning.
During this phase of the flight, the CFI directed the aircraft to maintain a specific altitude and heading that led directly toward a ridgeline. While issuing these navigation instructions, the instructor attended to a technical issue with the portable intercom system used for communication between the front and rear seats. Specifically, the CFI changed the battery in the device while the student was actively flying the aircraft toward the rising terrain.
The aircraft subsequently impacted the rising mountain terrain along the heading and altitude assigned by the CFI. The impact occurred because the flight path intersected with the ground profile in the area of the ridgeline, resulting in a controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) event.
The investigation
Examination of the accident site and aircraft components revealed that the aircraft struck rising mountain terrain. The flight path was consistent with the heading and altitude parameters established by the flight instructor immediately prior to impact. No mechanical failures or malfunctions were identified that would have precluded normal operation of the aircraft's systems.
Findings
The primary factor contributing to this accident was the flight instructor's decision to direct the aircraft toward rising terrain while simultaneously diverting attention from monitoring the student pilot's adherence to safe flight parameters. The instructor failed to ensure that the assigned heading and altitude did not conflict with the known mountainous topography of the area.
Additionally, the use of a view-limiting device during night instrument flight in mountainous terrain required heightened situational awareness and terrain avoidance planning by the instructor. The combination of limited visibility due to the hood, night conditions, and the instructor's distraction with the intercom battery change created a critical lapse in terrain monitoring.
Safety message
Flight instructors must maintain continuous monitoring of the student pilot's flight path, especially when operating in mountainous terrain or during night instrument conditions. Diverting attention from flight monitoring to attend to equipment issues while directing the aircraft toward known hazards can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Terrain avoidance must remain the priority during all phases of training flights in restricted visibility environments.