N6323R

HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn June 17, 2021, about 2253 mountain daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140, N6323R, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Rush Valley, Utah. The pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 flight.

The accident flight was the second leg of an almost 1,100-mile cross-country trip from the pilot’s home airport of Havre City-County Airport (HVR), Havre, Montana, to El Centro NAF Airport (NJK), El Centro, California. The airplane departed HVR about 1600, and according to a friend of the pilot, the pilot planned to stop for fuel at Idaho Falls Regional Airport (IDA), in Idaho Falls, Idaho, then fly through the night to Cedar City Regional Airport (CDC), Cedar City, Utah, arriving in El Centro by 0600.

The pilot was traveling with her granddaughter, and the trip was planned as a Father’s Day surprise for the pilot’s grandfather, who lived near El Centro. According to the friend, the pilot opted to fly overnight to avoid the heat and turbulence associated with flying over the desert during the day. She planned to sleep for 2 hours in the airport during the stop at CDC.

The pilot was not using flight-following services, and the airplane was not equipped with an automatic dependent surveillance – broadcast (ADS-B) transponder; therefore, a flight track was compiled using radar data provided by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The data indicated a target with the visual flight rules (VFR) 1200 transponder code departing IDA at 2100 and flying southbound directly toward the Malad City VOR. Fifty minutes later, having crossed directly over the VOR at a Mode-C reported altitude of 9,200 ft, the target began to descend. By 2224, the target had reached the Promontory Mountains, a peninsula on the northern shores of Great Salt Lake, about 35 miles northwest of Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC). For the next 20 minutes, the target followed a meandering, counterclockwise radial track around SLC, twice passing in and out of the edges of the airport’s Mode C and ADS-B out veil, at an altitude of about 8,200 ft (see figure 1).

Figure 1 – Radar track for final 30 minutes of flight.

By 2245, the target had reached the Stansbury Mountains, an 11,031-ft-tall, north-south oriented range situated west-southwest of SLC. The target crossed over the northern section of the range at an altitude of 8,200 ft, clearing terrain by about 400 ft vertically (see figure 2). The central area of the mountains was annotated as the Deseret Peak Wilderness Area within an approximate 3.5-mile-wide corridor between the SLC Mode-C and ADS-B out veil, and the SEVIER B & D military operation areas (MOAs).

The target then flew south along the corridor, over the foothills of the mountain range, where at one point it came within 100 ft vertically and horizontally of terrain. By 2250, the target passed to the east of Desert Peak, the highest point in the range (11,031 ft), when it began a right turn directly through a valley and toward terrain (see figures 2 and 3).

Figure 2 – Radar track for final 5 minutes of flight.

Figure 3 – Approximate flight track viewed to the north.

The last target was recorded at 2253:10 and indicated that the airplane was traveling on a heading of 221° about 0.75 miles from the 10,330-ft peak at an altitude of 8,200 ft, and airspeed of 98 knots.

At 2320, the Tooele County Fire Department received a 911 call reporting that a fire had developed within the Stansbury Mountains. At 0700 the following morning family and friends of the pilot, having been unable reach her, informed the FAA of the missing airplane, and an ALNOT was issued. The wreckage was located by a Forest Service fire crew a few hours later. PERSONNEL INFORMATIONThe pilot graduated from United States Army Flight School in February 2001 and received a qualification to fly the CH-47D helicopter later that year. Records indicate that she was regularly stationed internationally through 2008, during which time she flew multiple combat missions, often in desert terrain. During that period, she logged a total flight time of 689.1 hours, 167.7 of which were flown at night, with 29.7 hours using night vision goggles.

Based on her military experience, she held an FAA commercial pilot certificate with ratings for rotorcraft-helicopter and instrument helicopter.

The pilot began flying civil fixed-wing aircraft in October 2020 and attained FAA private pilot privileges for airplane single-engine land on March 14, 2021. All of her 174.3 hours of fixed-wing flight experience was in the accident airplane type, 12.8 of which were at night. Logbooks indicated that she routinely flew missions lasting up to 4.5 hours long while in the Army, but the accident flight would have been the longest she had flown solo in a fixed-wing airplane.

The pilot’s most recent FAA medical examination was conducted on August 7, 2020, and although the pilot needed to wear reading glasses, she was issued a third-class medical certificate without limitations.

The pilot’s flight instructor, who performed her most recent fixed-wing training, stated that the pilot had never discussed plans to take the cross-country accident flight. He was surprised and disappointed that she did not call him to discuss, as he would have done his best to dissuade her from taking such a trip at night over such long distances. He had not provided, nor was he required to provide, any mountain flying training.

Sleep History

There were no witnesses to the pilot’s sleep schedule the night before the accident; however, according to the pilot’s friend, she typically awoke between 0430 and 0500. Typically, she arrived at work about 0600, and left at 1500. He last spoke to her the night before the accident by phone, at 2230. AIRCRAFT INFORMATIONThe pilot purchased the airplane in December 2020. Maintenance logbooks were not recovered and presumed to have been destroyed in the accident; however, a copy of the last annual inspection was provided by the mechanic who worked on the airplane most recently. The inspection was completed on January 13, 2021 and did not reveal any significant anomalies.

The airplane was equipped with a conventional visual flight rules (VFR) instrument panel and a Bendix/King KT76 transponder. The pilot stated to an acquaintance that installing an ADS-B system was prohibitively expensive, and that it was not necessary based on her typical flying routine.

The airplane was not equipped with any terrain awareness or moving map systems; however, the weekend before the flight, the pilot’s friend gave her his portable Garmin 696 GPS navigation system and a GDL 51 Portable SiriusXM receiver. The 696 unit was configured to display terrain and receive XM weather information through the GDL 51. He reported offering to teach the pilot how to use the Garmin unit, but she declined, saying that she would teach herself. The accident flight was the first time she had used it for flight.

Along with the Garmin 696, the pilot’s friend also gave her a set of FAA VFR sectional and world aeronautical charts. He stated that the pilot also used a free flight planning application on her phone, which had a basic moving map feature that included sectional charts, but no terrain-warning capabilities.

The friend stated that the pilot enjoyed pilotage and navigating from landmarks rather than using a GPS. He stated that she was very familiar with VFR sectional charts and preferred them to using GPS devices. She was observant of the obstruction altitudes in each sectional sector, and due to her military experience, was very sensitive about flying into MOAs and felt the general aviation community had a cavalier approach to airspace restrictions. He stated that she adhered to a rigid, rules-based style of operation due to her military aviation training.

The pilot stated that she was concerned about fatigue for the flight but felt that having her granddaughter present would keep her awake. She stated that when in the Army, she was trained to use supplemental oxygen for night flights above 5,000 ft to help with night vision. Therefore, he lent her his supplemental oxygen system for the flight, which included one cannula and an oxygen tank, that had just been filled.

According to family members, the pilot’s granddaughter typically flew in a booster seat mounted to the front right seat. METEOROLOGICAL INFORMATIONSEVIER D MOA had an altitude of 9,500 ft msl to 18,000 ft and was active at the time of the accident. SEVIER B covered the same footprint, but at an altitude of between 100 ft agl and 9,500 ft msl and was not active.

The pilot did not file a flight plan, nor did she receive flight following. She stated to the friend that she planned to fly around the SLC Mode C and ADS-B out veil because the airplane was not equipped with an ADS-B transponder. She further stated that she was aware of the MOAs and had paid particular attention to their location during flight planning.

The closest weather reporting facility to the accident site was from Bolinder Field-Tooele Valley Airport (KTVY), Tooele, Utah, located approximately 16 miles northeast of the accident site at an elevation of 4,322 ft. The facility reported calm to light wind throughout the evening, with clear skies and visibility of 10 miles.

High-Resolution Rapid Refresh numerical model data for the accident site at 2300 MDT indicated a near surface wind from 250° at 7 knots with winds backing or slowly shifting to the west-southwest with height with gradual increasing wind speeds. The mean 18,000 ft wind was from 250° at 14 knots. The level of maximum wind was identified at about 27,500 ft from 270° at 46 knots.

Numerical modeling of the data using the Universal Rawinsonde Observation (RAOB) program software did not reveal any strong vertical wind shears below 18,000 ft, and the winds were below the threshold for mountain wave development.

RAOB an...