What happened
The flight departed from a remote hunting camp located approximately 25 miles north of the accident site. The purpose of the flight was to locate sheep before dropping off a passenger. Following reports to the Alaska State Troopers that the aircraft was overdue, an aerial search operation discovered the wreckage the following day.
At the time of the accident, visual meteorological conditions were reported at the nearest weather station, situated 60 miles south of the crash site. According to an employee of the pilot, winds at the camp were calm, with some clouds visible to the south and mountain tops visible in the direction of the accident site.
The airplane struck terrain in a near vertical attitude and came to rest inverted at the bottom of a box canyon. The impact caused the empennage to rotate and twist to the right. A postcrash fire destroyed the fuselage and both fuel tanks.
The investigation
Postaccident examination of the engine and the aircraft revealed no preaccident anomalies.