What happened
On January 28, 2010, a Piper PA28-181, registration N293PA, crashed near the south base of Adobe Mountain while attempting to return to Phoenix Deer Valley Airport (DVT). The flight was a solo cross-country instructional flight operated by Transpac Aviation Academy. The student pilot departed DVT at 0831 MST using runway 07R, with a planned destination of Wickenburg, Arizona.
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot requested to return to the airport for a full-stop landing due to reduced visibility. The air traffic controller instructed the pilot to follow the traffic ahead in the right-hand pattern and cleared the aircraft to land on runway 07R. The pilot acknowledged the clearance and indicated she had the preceding aircraft in sight. After the controller asked if the runway was in sight, a short, unreadable transmission was received, and all communication ceased.
Radar data indicated the aircraft followed a normal right-hand traffic pattern until the base leg, at which point it overflew the final approach for both runway 07R and 07L. Witnesses reported seeing the aircraft flying at a very low altitude followed by the sound of two loud bangs. The aircraft first struck power lines suspended approximately 30 feet above the ground. The momentum carried the aircraft another 400 feet, where it struck a power pole; the lines from this pole became entangled in the propeller and tail section.
The student pilot sustained 1 fatal injury. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage at a facility in Phoenix and found no mechanical anomalies in the airframe or engine that would have prevented normal operation. Toxicological testing of the pilot's specimens showed no findings for drugs, carbon monoxide, cyanide, or volatiles.
Weather observations at the time indicated a 1,000-foot broken cloud layer and 5 miles of visibility, placing the accident site on the border of marginal VFR and VFR conditions. Witnesses and first responders noted low clouds and fog at the site, with clouds obscuring the top of Adobe Mountain.