Disappearance and Discovery
An aircraft traveling from Hawthorne, California, to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with a fuel stop at Flagstaff, Arizona, and another planned at Double Eagle Airport in Albuquerque, New Mexico, disappeared en route. The pilot was using flight following but did not file a flight plan. Near Winslow, Arizona, air traffic control observed the aircraft execute a 180-degree turn and descend below radar coverage. No further communications or radar contacts were recorded.
After two days, family members reported the aircraft missing, prompting an ALNOT. Search efforts were unsuccessful until nine days later, when a state police helicopter, engaged in an unrelated mission, detected a weak ELT signal. The signal led to the discovery of the aircraft approximately 160 miles east of its last known position.
Accident Site and Conditions
The aircraft had collided with the side of a mountain on a westerly heading while in level flight at an elevation of about 10,600 feet above sea level. The exact route and duration from the last radar target to the accident site could not be determined. Investigators found no evidence of structural or mechanical malfunction.
Weather conditions along possible flight paths during the transit period were characterized by overcast skies with rain and thunderstorms of varying intensity.
Pilot Background
The pilot held a private pilot certificate with a single-engine land airplane rating and an instrument rating issued approximately two weeks before the accident. He had a total of 213 flight hours, including 3 hours of actual instrument time and 32 hours of simulated instrument time.