What happened
On the morning of February 7, 2005, a Cessna 340, registration N5790M, crashed into a mountain range in the Mendoza province of Argentina. The aircraft was being operated by the Ward County Irrigation District N°1. The flight had departed from Aerodrome San Rafael (SAMR) earlier that day, though the exact departure time was not recorded.
At approximately 06:34 Atlantic standard time, the aircraft struck the terrain while flying in visual meteorological conditions. The impact resulted in the total destruction of the airplane and caused two fatalities, involving both the pilot and the copilot. At the time of the accident, the aircraft was engaged in a mission involving cloud seeding, intended to inhibit the development of thunderstorms over the local agricultural region.
Findings
According to reports from the Argentine civil aviation accident investigation board (JIAAC), the aircraft was performing specialized weather modification tasks when the accident occurred. The specific flight plan details for the mission were unavailable at the time of the initial report.