What happened
On March 8, 2011, a Douglas AD-4N bearing registration N2088G crashed in the Sawtooth National Forest, approximately 30 miles south-southeast of Twin Falls, Idaho. The flight originated from Wendover Airport (ENV) in Utah at approximately 1550 hours.
Radar data from the Civil Air Patrol tracked the aircraft for roughly 30 minutes. The flight initially proceeded northwest and climbed to 6,500 feet mean sea level (msl). The track later turned northeast, with the final radar target recorded at 7,900 feet msl, approximately 0.25 miles from the crash site. The terrain at the impact location was approximately 6,600 feet msl.
The aircraft struck the terrain in a steep, nose-down attitude with high forward velocity, resulting in substantial damage and a postimpact fire. The pilot and passenger sustained 2 fatal injuries.
The investigation
An examination of the engine, a Wright R-3350-26WD, revealed no internal mechanical failures or anomalies that would have prevented normal operation. Investigators found no evidence of mechanical malfunctions in the airframe that would have precluded normal operation.
Weather analysis indicated that while visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the nearby Twin Falls airport, the area near the accident site experienced cloudy skies. Data from a nearby remote automated weather station showed increasing relative humidity, with temperatures near freezing.
Findings
Investigators determined that the pilot was not instrument-rated. The analysis of available weather information suggested that conditions at the time of the accident likely produced restricted visibility, which could have led to spatial disorientation.