What happened
During a commercial visual flight rules (VFR) operation, a pilot was flying a second segment of a flight to deliver mail. The route required traversing a peninsula characterized by mountainous terrain toward a remote coastal airport that lacked instrument approach procedures and official weather reporting. Approximately 28 minutes into the flight, an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal was detected, triggering a search and rescue mission.
Search teams eventually discovered the wreckage at an elevation of roughly 3,000 feet mean sea level. The aircraft was located in deep snow on a steep, featureless mountainside, approximately 24 miles from its intended destination. The wreckage showed evidence of an impact occurring during a left turn. No mechanical failures were identified in the aircraft type following an examination of the wreckage. Because the aircraft lacked flight tracking or recording equipment, its exact flight path prior to the crash could not be reconstructed.
Findings
Investigation into the accident revealed that the pilot likely encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) despite the flight being planned under VFR. Weather cameras and satellite imagery confirmed overcast skies and mountain obscuration caused by rain showers. The presence of snow-covered terrain and heavy cloud cover likely created flat light conditions, which would have made it difficult for the pilot to distinguish terrain features or perceive the proximity of the mountain.
Several contributing factors were identified regarding the flight's planning and safety oversight:
- The pilot's weather assessment relied on outdated information from an untrained source and failed to account for en route weather or active AIRMETs for mountain obscuration.
- The company had not updated its risk assessment for this specific route in several years, despite the route being known by other pilots as hazardous due to terrain and unpredictable weather.
- While the company's risk assessment form was signed, the data used to populate it was insufficient and did not include critical en route hazards.
- The pilot's recent CFIT-avoidance training was overdue, as the last recorded session occurred 15 months prior to the accident.