Beech D55 N533Q accident near Stallion Springs, California

Probable cause

The pilot’s continued visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions associated with mountain obscuration conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into rising terrain. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to obtain a weather briefing.

NTSB analysis

The pilot departed on a visual flight rules cross-country flight with two passengers. There were no communications with air traffic control, and the flight did not arrive at its intended destination. The wreckage was located the next day on rising, mountainous snow-capped terrain at an elevation of about 6,700 ft mean sea level.

Examination of the wreckage revealed that the airplane initially impacted trees and left a distribution path of about 392 ft, which is consistent with controlled flight into terrain. Examination of both engines at the accident site revealed no evidence of a mechanical anomaly that would have precluded normal operation. The propellers from both engines exhibited impact damage with rotational scoring on the cambered surfaces and torsional bending of the blades, and damaged trees around the wreckage exhibited 45° cut sections that appeared to be from the propeller blades, consistent with the engines producing power at the time of impact.

There were no records of the pilot obtaining a weather briefing or filing a flight plan before departure; it is unknown if the pilot reviewed other weather sources before the flight. Along the route of flight, the combination of a low-pressure system at the surface and at 500-hPa provided the support for upward vertical motion and the development of rain showers and thunderstorms, with snow showers in higher elevations. Terrain above about 4,600 ft in the vicinity of the accident site was likely obscured in clouds with light freezing conditions and snow about the time of the accident. The available weather reports, forecasts, and advisories depicted the conditions and identified instrument flight rules and icing conditions along the route of flight. Had the pilot obtained a weather briefing for his planned route of flight, he would have been aware of the weather hazards, and alternate routing may have allowed for safe operations in visual conditions.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR19FA086 for the full record.