CESSNA 182 — Juneau, AK

What happened

The instrument-rated private pilot departed from a remote lake with a pilot-rated passenger (his older son) and camping gear on board. The pilot had previously conducted a round-trip flight from the lake to the destination airport, dropping off his younger son and returning to the lake to retrieve the camping gear. The airplane's flight path for the second trip from the lake to the destination airport would have been on a north-northwest heading over mountainous terrain. The area frequently has low ceilings and reduced visibility due to rain, fog, and mist. According to the younger son, when they left the lake on the earlier flight, the weather was "open" on the north end of the lake but was "closed" on the south end of the lake. When the airplane did not arrive at the destination airport as expected, the younger son thought that the airplane might have been delayed due to the poor weather conditions in the area. A search was initiated that continued for about 10 days before it was suspended. No radar data were available for the flight, and no emergency transmitter locator (ELT) signal was received from the airplane.About 9 years after the accident, the airplane wreckage was located by a hunter in densely-forested steep terrain about 1.25 miles northwest of the north end of the lake. The location of the wreckage suggested that the airplane impacted the terrain about 5 minutes after departure from the lake.

Examination of the engine and airframe at the accident site revealed no evidence of mechanical anomaly or failure that would have precluded normal operation. Due to extensive airframe fragmentation and thermal damage, flight control continuity could not be verified. An examination of the airplane's maintenance records revealed no evidence of uncorrected mechanical discrepancies. Due to the remote location, the wreckage was not recovered.

The younger son's statement and reported weather data indicated that the pilot likely encountered low visibility conditions after departure. Given the deteriorating weather conditions when the pilot departed, it is likely that the pilot continued visual flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in the pilot experiencing a loss of visual reference and subsequent controlled flight into terrain.

The younger son reported that when search personnel checked the cabin at the lake that they had used, it was absent of camping gear and only trash remained. The son further reported that this probably meant that his father and brother felt they only had a small weather window and quickly departed. A rapid departure in deteriorating weather conditions is consistent with the pilot experiencing self-induced pressure to complete the flight.

The autopsy of the pilot and passenger were limited due to only skeletonized remains being recovered. No toxicological tests were carried out. As a result, whether a medical condition or substance use contributed to the accident could not be determined.

The airplane's ELT was not identified in the wreckage, and it could not be determined why search and rescue personnel did not receive an ELT signal from the airplane. The lack of radar data available for the flight was likely due to the remoteness and rugged topography of the area where the accident occurred.

An editorial "what led to it / how to avoid it" analysis for this accident is generated separately and will appear here.