History of Flight
On November 14, 2010, about 1030 Pacific standard time, a Beech C35, registration N747MT, collided with terrain near Enterprise, Oregon. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The private pilot sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The personal cross-country flight departed Walla Walla, Washington, about 0930. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.
The family reported the airplane overdue, prompting a search by the family and the Civil Air Patrol (CAP). The CAP located the airplane on November 15 in rough mountainous terrain in the Johnson Ridge Area of the Umatilla Indian Reservation. The wreckage was near the last radar target matching the suspected flight path. Radar coordinates at 1024:29 were 45 degrees 24.5102 minutes north latitude 118 degrees 31.7564 minutes west longitude at a Mode C reported altitude of 5,400 feet.
Personnel Information
A review of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airman records revealed that the 50-year-old pilot held a private pilot certificate with a rating for airplane single-engine land. The pilot held a third-class medical certificate issued on August 20, 2010, with no limitations or waivers. According to the FAA inspector, the pilot had a total flight time of 790 hours, with 30 hours in the last 90 days and an estimated 30 hours in this make and model.
Aircraft Information
The airplane was a Beech C35, serial number D-3092. No logbooks were located, but a mechanic who performed the last annual inspection stated it was conducted on November 12, 2009. The tachometer read 1,246 hours, and total time on the airframe was 4,266 hours. The engine was a Continental Motors, Inc., E-225-8-20, serial number 36362-D-73-8-R, with time since major overhaul of 1,110 hours.
Meteorological Information
A tribal police officer reported patrolling in the area around the time of the accident and described conditions as windy, rainy, and foggy. An NTSB staff meteorologist provided information from the closest official weather observation station, La Grande, Oregon (KLGD), 14 nautical miles northeast of the accident site at an elevation of 2,717 feet mean sea level. A METAR for KLGD issued at 1035 PDT reported wind from 170 degrees at 3 knots, visibility 10 miles, sky 2,100 feet overcast, temperature 7°C, dew point 4°C, altimeter 30.13 inHg, relative humidity 81 percent.
Raw METARs for the vicinity indicated ceilings ranging from 1,900 to 2,700 feet. Light precipitation was recorded prior to the accident, with some clouds as low as 500 feet agl. GOES-11 infrared imagery depicted a band of low clouds over the accident site with cloud top temperatures corresponding to 14,000 feet. Several north-to-south oriented cloud bands were evident, perpendicular to the wind flow, suggesting transverse banding common with orographic clouds and mountain wave activity. The National Weather Service Boise sounding for 0400 PST showed a moist sounding with relative humidity greater than 80 percent from the surface through 14,000 feet; the freezing level was about 6,000 feet. The wind and temperature profile supported mountain wave development with a predominant wave at 7,000 and 10,000 feet and moderate or greater turbulence potential. In summary, weather conditions indicated instrument flight rules to marginal visual flight rules conditions due to low ceilings.
Wreckage and Impact Information
An FAA inspector examined the wreckage at the scene. The first identified point of contact was a scar about 25 feet up on the trunk of a conifer tree about 15 inches in diameter. The airplane fragmented; the debris path was about 80 yards long and 60 yards wide on a northwesterly path, roughly parallel to a downward drainage. The family recovered the wreckage and reported the coordinates of the main wreckage as 45 degrees 23.712 minutes north latitude 118 degrees 30.130 minutes west longitude. The initial impact was approximately 250 feet southeast of a tree that was sheared off, with a 10-foot section of that tree carried along with the wreckage. The engine continued and stopped 150 feet northwest of the fuselage. The wings were about 50 feet either side of the impact path, about halfway between the first impact and the fuselage position.
Additional Information
An extensively damaged handheld GPS unit was recovered. An NTSB specialist extracted data from its non-volatile memory. The data for November 14, 2010, began at 0939:30 over the airport at Walla Walla at a recorded altitude of 1,221 feet. The track initially went south-southwest, climbing to over 5,000 feet, then turned west in a climb, followed by a turn to the east, with several course changes. The maximum altitude recorded was 7,196 feet at 1016:32, after which the airplane began descending. The track made a right turn through approximately 270 degrees and meandered northward. A left 180-degree turn lasting 24 seconds occurred, during which the airplane lost about 1,000 feet of altitude. The last contact was at 1024:29 at a recorded altitude of 5,546 feet; coordinates were 45.41079 degrees north latitude 118.526 degrees west longitude. The last radar contact and on-board GPS coordinates were about 0.2 nautical miles apart, while the on-board GPS coordinates were 1.37 nautical miles from the family's coordinates for the main wreckage.
Medical and Pathological Information
The Umatilla County Coroner performed an autopsy and determined the cause of death as multiple fractures and internal injuries. The FAA Bioaeronautical Sciences Research Laboratory performed toxicological testing of pilot specimens. No carbon monoxide, cyanide, or volatiles were found. The report detected 0.112 ug/ml diazepam in liver and 0.072 ug/ml in blood; 0.27 ug/ml nordiazepam in liver and 0.099 ug/ml in blood; oxazepam was detected in liver but not in blood.