The instrument-rated pilot was on a 234-nm instrument flight rules (IFR) cross-country flight over mountainous terrain in the Beech B36TC.
During the flight, he notified a controller at the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) that the plane was picking up too much ice and requested to divert to an airport located about 96 miles ahead of his position and to descend to 11,000 feet mean sea level (msl).
The controller informed the pilot that he could descend to 12,000 feet msl for terrain clearance.
Over the following few minutes, the ARTCC controller notified the pilot several times that he had to maintain an altitude of 12,000 feet or above due to terrain clearance, all of which the pilot acknowledged. Following a low-altitude alert issued by the controller, the pilot stated his altitude was 11,500 feet.
Subsequently, he advised the controller that he was having engine problems and needed to go to an airport immediately.
When the controller asked the pilot to verify his altitude, the pilot responded that he was at 10,000 feet. The controller then asked the pilot if he was able to climb, and the pilot responded “negative.”
The controller advised the pilot of an airport that was 24 miles behind his position and asked if he wanted to divert. He said yes and asked for guidance to the airport.
About a minute later, he advised the controller that the plane had “just lost its engine.”
The controller advised the pilot that the airport was at the pilot’s six o’clock position and suggested a heading of 253°, adding that another airport was right below their position. There were no further communications with the accident airplane.
Wreckage and impact signatures were found consistent with a wings-level, slightly nose-low descent into trees and terrain near Yellow Pine, Idaho. All five on board the plane died.
Airmen’s Meteorological Information (AIRMETs) for IFR and mountain obscuration conditions, low-level wind shear and turbulence, and moderate icing were issued for the flight track area and timeframe.
In addition to the AIRMETs, multiple pilot reports included reports of light rime-type icing between 8,000 feet and 13,000 feet throughout the region. National Weather Service data was consistent with the pilot reports and AIRMET that were current at the time.
Investigators were unable to determine whether the pilot obtained weather information regarding his planned flight.
It is likely that the loss of engine power was due to a combination of structural and induction icing during the continued flight in icing conditions in an airplane that was not certified for flight in icing conditions.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of the accident as the pilot’s continued flight into known light-to-moderate icing conditions over mountainous terrain. Contributing to the accident was the loss of engine power due to induction icing.
NTSB Identification: WPR14FA094
This December 2013 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
This was an unfortunate wreck. I recall for many days after how we (myself and other Idaho pilots) hoped and prayed for a positive outcome, as hope dwindled. I have flown Idaho my whole life, since I was born, really, flying with my Dad. I flew the Idaho backcountry for years until losing my medical. Back in 1988, I lost three good friends in a mountain flying accident; continuing VFR into IFR conditions.
The pilot of this Bonanza stacked the deck against himself. He was fully loaded (maybe overloaded) and took off into bad weather, single engine, single pilot IFR across the middle of the state which is all mountains. His bad judgment took out several young people with their lives ahead of them.
If you MUST fly mountainous terrain in a single engine plane, in the winter, in poor weather, take a longer route and follow the damn highway. If you are forced down, you have a fighting chance of making a forced landing on the road, or possibly at least making a survivable forced landing and living thru the crash. Worst case scenario it will be easier for rescue crews to find the wreckage and what’s left of you.
Nothing we do flying planes is worth dying for, or taking out loved ones. This was a sad, preventable accident.
Indeed it was totally preventable as are so many dumb headwork flying accidents. Why would anyone with a lick of good sense continue to fly into clouds (super cooled visible moisture) above the freezing level whence ice not surprisingly begins to collect on an airframe which has no means of shedding it? The engine’s air intake (induction system) will ingest and collect the same ice eventually choking off the flow and killing the engine. That great American philosopher Forrest Gump said it best: Stupid is as stupid does. Unfortunately it can result in fatal consequences.
Nothing needs to be added to what you said, John. As my instructor always taught me, put all the odds in your favor. This guy had one chance, and that was everything going perfectly, something he should not have counted on. You wonder if oxygen was a consideration in not going higher, his plane was turbocharged after all. Sad.
And my condolences on the loss of your friends.
Thanks Mike. That was a long time ago, and I still miss those guys. Two of them were newly minted private pilots; the third was along for the ride. They flew to a trade show in February; from Twin Falls, ID to Billings MT. They went direct on the trip there, and tried to do the same in bad weather on the trip home. Had they taken a slightly longer route and followed the road, they would still be with us today.
Little airplanes are wonderful, but they are no match for hostile weather.