What happened
On November 10, 2025, at approximately 1515 Pacific standard time, a Cessna 172M, registration N13221, crashed near Poleta, California. The flight was being operated under 14 CFR Part 91 for personal use. The aircraft had been rented from a flight school at North Las Vegas Airport (VGT) in Nevada, where it had been fueled to capacity.
After departing North Las Vegas, the aircraft arrived at Bishop Airport (BIH) at 1416. The pilot added approximately 10 gallons of fuel via a self-serve pump before departing from runway 17 at 1505. During the flight, the aircraft began a climbing left turn toward the southeast, approaching a mountain range with elevations reaching 9,000 feet MSL. The final ADS-B signal was recorded at 1514 at an altitude of 6,850 feet MSL.
Following the aircraft's failure to return to its origin, the flight school notified law enforcement and the FAA, which issued an Alert Notice (ALNOT). The wreckage was located the following morning at approximately 0600. The aircraft came to rest on a shale-covered slope on the north face of a canyon at an altitude of about 7,000 feet MSL. The crash resulted in 2 fatal injuries and 1 serious injury.
The investigation
The wreckage was found approximately 9.6 miles southeast of BIH. The main cabin doors had separated from the fuselage and were located downslope from the main wreckage. The wings, engine, and empennage remained attached to the fuselage, and several gallons of fuel remained in each tank.
While the engine showed no signs of internal catastrophic failure, one propeller blade had separated from the propeller and was embedded in the soil near the wreckage. Visual inspection of the propeller blades showed chordwise striations, S-bending, and chipping on the leading edges.