What happened
During a night repositioning flight, a commercial pilot was transitioning an aircraft from a departure airport to a different destination. The flight occurred under overcast conditions at night, which resulted in a lack of a visible horizon for the pilot. After departing the airfield, the aircraft climbed to a cruising altitude ranging between 1,200 and 1,400 feet MSL.
Approximately 4 miles south of the departure airfield, the aircraft struck an east-west oriented ridge at an elevation of 1,200 feet MSL. The terrain in the area features a ridgeline that rises from west to east, reaching a peak of 1,714 feet MSL. This ridge sits perpendicular to the flight path between the origin and the destination.
Findings
At the time of the accident, the pilot was operating out of a recently commissioned airport located 3 miles east-northeast of the previous facility. This specific flight marked the pilot's second time departing from this new location and his first night departure from either the old or new airport.
The necessity of a higher altitude to clear the terrain was a critical factor, as the flight path from the new airport requires more altitude to bypass the ridge than the path from the previous airport. When flying from the old airport, the direct route crossed the same ridgeline much further west, where the elevation was below 500 feet MSL.