Mountains

The certificated commercial pilot and the pilot-rated, nonrevenue passenger, departed at night from a remote village airport on the last leg of a VFR scheduled air taxi flight. The destination airport was 17 nautical miles northeast of the departure point. After departure, the pilot said he encountered severe turbulence and entered a snow squall where the visibility dropped below 1 mile. The pilot said he was in instrument meteorological conditions, and a strong surface wind was blowing the airplane toward the southwest. He began correcting his course toward the southeast, and then collided with a snow-covered hill. The passenger said that light snow showers were falling in the area, along with turbulence and strong winds from the northeast. After departing on the accident flight, snow showers intensified, and the pilot turned toward the south, away from the intended destination. About 10 minutes after takeoff, the passenger inquired about the direction of flight, and the pilot said he was going to head to the coast and follow it to the destination. The visibility was about 1 mile. No ground features were visible until the passenger saw snow-covered terrain about 3 feet below the airplane. The airplane then collided with terrain. The pilot indicated he obtained a weather briefing from an FAA Flight Service Station.

The certificated commercial pilot picked up his newly painted airplane for a visual flight to the home base. About 17 miles south of the departure airport, witnesses initially observed the airplane in a 90 degree right bank. It continued to roll to an inverted position while simultaneously nosing down to a near vertical descent. The pilot's second class medical certificate application (July 7, 1997) indicated 3,700 hours flight time. A flight log indicted the pilot flew this aircraft 6.4 hours during the 60 days preceding the accident. No evidence was found that the pilot had not obtained sufficient rest before the flight. There was no evidence found to either suggest a medical cause for incapacitation or to rule out incapacitation for medical reasons. Aircraft maintenance records did not reveal any open discrepancies. All of the airplane was accounted for in the wreckage debris. No evidence of an in-flight fire and/or explosion, or in-flight mechanical and/or flight control malfunction was found.

The pilot, sole on board, departed Kathmandu-Tribhuvan Airport on a positioning flight to Namche Bazar to pick up passengers. During the pre-flight briefing, he was informed about the good weather conditions along the route and at destination. But en route, these conditions deteriorated and upon arrival, clouds were present up to 3,600 metres. He made several circuits expecting weather improvement. Few minutes later, he saw a hole in the clouds and initiated a descent when the aircraft struck the slope of Mt Kongri Himal located 3 km north of the airfield. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.

The aircraft departed Sibay Airport with 13 passengers and a crew of three including one inspector. Despite marginal weather conditions, the crew initiated the flight under VFR mode. After takeoff, the crew failed to follow the departure route and deviated from the published one. About half an hour into the flight, weather conditions deteriorated with low clouds. After the aircraft entered clouds, the captain decided to return to Sibay but this decision was taken too late. At this time, the aircraft was off course by 45 km to the northeast of the initial route. While making a turn to the left, still in the clouds, the crew failed to realize his altitude was too low when, at an altitude of 980 metres, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed on the slope of Mt Masim (1,040 metres high). All 16 occupants were rescued, among them three passengers were injured.

The air tanker pilot was on a fire suppression mission with fire retardant chemicals aboard, and had made two previous drops on the fire line. Another tanker and spotter pilot witnessed the last drop approach, and reported that the pilot was turning from base leg to the westerly drop heading downwind while in a 60-degree left bank. The aircraft suddenly rolled left to 90 degrees, and at that point the left wing tip struck the terrain. The winds were estimated by the tanker pilots to be 25 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 plus from the east. The pilots also reported turbulence and bad air. Airmet Tango was issued for turbulence and isolated severe conditions mainly below 10,000 in the vicinity of canyons and passes.

Following an uneventful flight from Málaga-Pablo Ruiz Picasso Airport, the crew initiated the descent to Melilla Airport in marginal weather conditions. After being cleared to descend to 7,000 feet from Sevilla ATC, the crew contacted Melilla Tower and was cleared to descend to 5,000 feet. Melilla Tower then reported that runway 33 was in use and reported wind at 270° at 5 knots, visibility 8 km with few clouds at 1,000 feet. At 0645LT the copilot reported that they were at 22 nm at an altitude of 3,000 feet. From this point, the crew descended below the minimum safe altitude of 4,000 feet and crossed the coast line in limited visibility due to low clouds. At 0749 and 52 seconds, the GPWS alarm sounded twice in the cockpit. Few seconds later, the aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located near Cap de Trois Fourche. The aircraft disintegrated on impact and all 38 occupants were killed.

The twin engine aircraft departed Entebbe on an on-demand taxi flight to Kasese, carrying 10 passengers and one pilot. In unclear circumstances, the aircraft crashed in the Rwenzori Mountains National Park, in the region of Kasese. The exact cause of the accident is unknown but it was reported that the pilot's body showed two bullet wounds. The passengers were on a gold buying mission carrying a large amount of cash that was not found in the wreckage.

The airline transport pilot departed on a CFR Part 135 cargo/mail flight for a remote coastal village. When the flight did not reach the destination, an aerial search was initiated. The wreckage was located the following day in mountainous terrain, 21 miles from the departure airport. The airplane had collided with rising terrain. An AIRMET for mountain obscuration in clouds and precipitation was issued for the pilot's planned route of flight. A pilot that departed about 20 minutes after the accident airplane's departure, had a similar route of flight. He characterized the weather conditions along the accident airplane's route as 'very low visibility with rain, fog and varied layers of cloud cover.' This pilot stated that he changed his route in order to avoid the worsening weather conditions. He added that with satisfactory weather conditions, and given the intended destination of the accident airplane, the standard route of flight would be directly over the mountain that the accident airplane collided with.

The float equipped airplane was attempting to cross a mountain pass, following two other company airplanes. The first two pilots, and passengers, described five to seven miles visibility, 700 feet ceilings, clouds hanging on the mountainsides, and misty rain. The route of flight required several turns in the pass. The pilot had not flown through the pass in marginal Visual Flight Rules (VFR) weather before this flight. After the first two airplanes went through the pass, they lost radio contact with the accident pilot, and did not see or hear from him again. The wreckage was later located at the head of an intersecting canyon, two miles before the correct pass. The airplane had been modified with a Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) kit. Canadian certification flight tests had determined that this modification eliminated aerodynamic warning of impending stalls, and therefore required an audible stall warning. Company pilots indicated it was common for the stall warning system to activate at an airspeed 10-15 miles per hour above the actual stall. At the time of the accident, the airplane did not have the ventral fin installed, and a takeoff flaps setting was selected. The audible stall warning circuit breaker was found in the pulled (disabled) position.

The commercial pilot departed under special VFR conditions on a CFR part 135 flight for a remote lake. During the flight, low clouds, rain, and fog were present in an area of mountainous terrain along the route of flight. The pilot stated that he intended to utilize a narrow mountain pass to transit the area, and as he entered the mountain pass, discovered that the ceiling and visibility would not allow safe passage. He said that he made an emergency 180 degree turn in an attempt to exit the pass, and subsequently collided with terrain. After initial impact, the airplane slid downhill about 100 feet, and came to rest on a 35 degree slope. The pilot stated that weather conditions at the time of the accident consisted of: Ceiling, 500 foot overcast; visibility, 2 miles with rain and fog; wind 360 degrees, at 8 knots. The pilot noted that there were no pre accident anomalies with the airplane.