Accident Details
The accident occurred during a local area instructional night flight approximately one hour after nautical twilight ended. According to the operator, the purpose of the flight was for the private pilot, who had obtained his certificate one month prior, to gain night Visual Flight Rules (VFR) experience. The flight was scheduled to fly in the local area and conduct night landings at several local airports. A witness, a friend of the pilot, reported hearing the airplane fly over the private pilot's residence around 1900. The witness could see the airplane's strobe lights but could not read the registration number due to low clouds in the area.
The wreckage was found on a slope in a box canyon, about 100 feet below the ridgeline top, at an elevation of 4,168 feet mean sea level. No mechanical abnormalities were found with the airplane or engine during the investigation.
Pilot Information
The private pilot had a total logged flight time of 95 hours, including 3.5 hours of dual instruction received during night conditions. The certified flight instructor had a total logged flight time of 435 hours, with 22 flight hours logged during night conditions. The instructor logged 23 hours in the local area, 2.8 of which were under night conditions.