A C206 PHOTO SHOOT PLT ADMITS TO LOW FLT OVER A SKI SLOPE 23 MI SE OF PMD; CA.

Date: 2004-02 · Aircraft: Cessna Stationair/Turbo Stationair 6

Anomalies: deviation-discrepancy-procedural-far|inflight-event-encounter-cftt-cfit|other-low-flt

Synopsis

A C206 PHOTO SHOOT PLT ADMITS TO LOW FLT OVER A SKI SLOPE 23 MI SE OF PMD; CA.

Narrative

I WAS ON A PHOTO MISSION NEAR WRIGHTWOOD. AS I GOT CLOSER TO THE PHOTO SITE; I DECIDED TO DSND TO 8000 FT MSL (THE PHOTO SITE ALT) AND TURN DIRECT TOWARD MY SITE. AS I GOT EVEN CLOSER TO MY SITE; I SAW THAT THERE WAS A CLOUD RIGHT ON TOP OF THE SITE AND WAS NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE MISSION SO I MADE A L TURN TO AVOID THE CLOUD AND PROCEED TO MY NEXT SITE LOCATED 5 MI TO THE N. ONCE ON MY NEW HDG APPROX 040-090 DEGS MY ATTN WAS STILL FOCUSED ON THE CLOUDED OVER PHOTO SITE TO SEE IF THERE WAS ANY POSSIBILITY TO COME BACK TO THE SITE LATER. I DECIDED TO SKIP THE SITE FOR THE DAY DUE TO THE HVY CLOUDS. AS I LOOKED FORWARD AGAIN TO STEER THE PLANE TO THE NEXT SITE USING MY GPS (STILL AT AROUND 8000 FT +/-100 FT); I NOTICED THAT THE PLANE WAS GOING TO FLY RIGHT OVER A SKI SLOPE AT OR BELOW 300 FT AGL. AT THAT TIME I DECIDED TO CONTINUE ON THE SAME HDG AND ALT AND NOT MAKE AN ABRUPT MANEUVER TO CLB OR CHANGE THE COURSE OF THE AIRPLANE BECAUSE I KNEW THAT WE HAD ENOUGH GND CLRNC TO OVERFLY SAFELY. 5 SECONDS LATER I OVERFLEW THE SKI SLOPES AT THE LOW ALT AND THEN CONTINUED TO THE NEXT SITE WITHOUT FURTHER INCIDENT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS MAY HAVE BEEN PAYING TOO MUCH ATTN TO THE PHOTO SITE AND NOT ENOUGH TO TERRAIN SEPARATION.

Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.