Accident Details
An airline transport pilot and a passenger departed a remote gravel site to scout the area near their hunting camp for sheep. The pilot told his son that they would return in about 30 minutes. Several days later, the pilot's son flagged down a passing airplane and reported the missing aircraft. Searchers located the wreckage at an elevation of about 4,000 feet on a steep scree slope in a canyon, 3-4 miles from the hunting camp. The terrain was surrounded by high terrain, and the airplane came to rest about 200 feet upslope from the bottom of a steep ravine.
The airplane impacted the slope in a steep, nose-down attitude, with the tail pointing downslope. The right side of the aircraft was against a rock outcrop. The wreckage was consumed by fire, but the basic structures remained, and all major flight control components were present. The left wing structure had rotated over the top of the fuselage, bending the rudder top to the right, and coming to rest on top of the right wing. This damage was consistent with the airplane spinning at impact. The propeller blades exhibited extreme torsional twisting and bending, along with chord-wise scratches, indicating that the engine was producing power at the time of impact.
Investigation and Probable Cause
Given the steep, rising terrain and the impact signatures on the airplane, it is probable that the pilot elected to fly up the valley. In the process, he allowed the airspeed to decay and stalled the airplane while maneuvering to avoid the rising terrain. Due to the remote and hazardous location, the accident airplane was not recovered.