Blackhawk Airways Flight N215W Crash Near Keyser, West Virginia

Flight Operations and Departure Details Blackhawk Airways management cleared the flight for a 1000 EDT departure, though the exact takeoff time was not established. No record of a preflight weather briefing was found. During a pre-flight telephone conversation, the pilot informed the manager that clouds would be lower in the mountains. At approximately 1030, ground witnesses observed an aircraft matching the description of N215W circling beneath the clouds at Keyser, WV, before departing to the southwest. When the aircraft failed to arrive at its destination, a search was initiated. The wreckage was located where it had impacted rising terrain approximately 6 miles southwest of Keyser. The impact occurred on a 26° slope at approximately the 3,000 feet level, just below a 3,104-foot peak. The aircraft was climbing when it struck wooded terrain. A pilot/mechanical who operated an airport approximately 3 miles southeast of Keyser reported fog in the morning hours with a ceiling of about 2,000 feet until midday, and that mountain tops near the crash site were obscured. The pilot, who was the sole occupant, was killed.