- Location: Round Mountain, Nevada
- Accident Number: WPR25LA080
- Date & Time: January 2, 2025, 12:30 Local
- Registration: N4151R
- Aircraft: Piper PA-32-300
- Aircraft Damage: Substantial
- Defining Event: Unknown or undetermined
- Injuries: 1 Fatal
- Flight Conducted Under: Part 91: General aviation - Personal
https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/199577/pdf
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=199577
On January 2, 2025, at an unknown time, a Piper PA-32-300 airplane, N4151R, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Round Mountain, Nevada. The pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 personal flight.
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.
- Probable Cause: Impact with mountainous terrain for reasons that could not be determined due to a lack of available evidence.
- Pilot Information:
According to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the pilot’s wife filed a missing persons report on January 5, 2025. The pilot’s daughter reported that her father did not disclose any plan or intention to fly on the day of the accident to them or anyone they knew. Her father would usually tell her mom if he planned to fly; however, sometimes he would inform her only after he flew. She added that her parents enjoyed hiking together and that her father may have been scouting possible hiking areas in advance of her parents’ upcoming 40th wedding anniversary. The pilot’s wife reported that he had been talking with her about hiking and staying in a cabin in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, an area they had driven through during a previous trip to Idaho.
An autopsy was conducted on the pilot by the Clark County Medical Examiner, Las Vegas, Nevada. The cause of death was blunt force injuries. Toxicological testing of the pilot’s specimens conducted by the FAA Forensic Sciences Laboratory did not reveal any drugs of abuse.
No comments:
Post a Comment