Piper PA-32-300 N4151R accident near Round Mountain, Nevada

Probable cause

Impact with mountainous terrain for reasons that could not be determined due to a lack of available evidence.

NTSB analysis

The pilot departed from his home airport on a personal flight for unknown reasons. The pilot and airplane were reported missing three days later, and the wreckage was located in rural mountainous terrain about 174 nautical miles (nm) northwest of the departure airport. ADS-B captured a portion of the accident flight; however, flight track data ended at an altitude of 10,000 ft mean sea level (msl) about 60 nm from the accident site.

The airplane impacted the northeastern face of a mountain peak at an elevation about 11,000 ft msl. The impact location was opposite the general track of the accident flight, and it is possible that the pilot may have been returning to the departure airport or circling the area at the time of the accident.

Postaccident examination of the recovered components of the airplane revealed no evidence of pre-impact anomalies of the engine or flight controls; however, the scope of the examination was limited because multiple flight control cables and the propeller blades were not recovered from the accident site. Impact damage to the airplane and the orientation of the wreckage at the accident site was consistent with a high-energy impact.

Review of weather conditions along the route of flight and at the accident site revealed that visual meteorological conditions prevailed on the day of the accident, with no evidence of clear air turbulence, low-level wind shear, or mountain wave formation potential.

Given the lack of flight track information for the final moments of the flight, the circumstances of the airplane’s impact with terrain could not be determined based on available evidence.

Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for WPR25LA080 for the full record.