VFR into IMC · NTSB WPR09FA428
PIPER PA-22-150 — Canyonville, OR
| Date | August 30, 2009 |
| Location | Canyonville, OR |
| Aircraft | PIPER PA-22-150 |
| Purpose of flight | Personal |
| Conditions | Day · Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| Phase / occurrence | Enroute-cruise Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT) |
| Pilot age | 70 |
| Pilot total time | Unknown |
| Time in type | Unknown |
| Fatalities | 2 |
Probable cause
NTSB findings
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Low ceiling-Contributed to outcome
- Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Below VFR minima-Contributed to outcome
- Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Mountainous/hilly terrain-Contributed to outcome
- Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
What happened
The non-instrument-rated and non-certificated pilot was flying along a 49-mile route, which paralleled a major interstate highway. Mountainous terrain was located within a few miles of the highway, and, in the accident site area, mountains rose to 3,300 feet mean sea level (msl). While flying about 0.7 miles west of the highway, the pilot collided with a mountain at 2,400 feet msl. Near the departure airport, about 23 miles northwest of the accident site, the base of the overcast ceiling was between 2,000 and 2,200 feet msl. Witnesses located about 1 mile north of the crash site reported that the mountaintop south of their position was not visible at the time of the accident due to the cloud coverage. The wreckage and ground scar signatures were consistent with a level-flight impact into the terrain. Thus, it is likely that the pilot, while attempting to fly just below the clouds, encountered instrument meteorological conditions and lost visual reference to the mountainous terrain.