Piper PA-28R-200 N2706R

Summary

On 18 June 1999 at about 16:45 local time, a Piper PA-28R-200 registered N2706R was involved in an accident near Bass Lake, California, United States. 4 people were on board and 4 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

18 June 1999 at 16:45

Classification

Accident

Location

Bass Lake, California, United States

Coordinates

37.3792, -119.5107

Aircraft

Piper PA-28R-200

Registration

N2706R

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fresno → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

LAX99FA214

4 people died.

Inadequate in-flight planning and decision making resulted in a failure to maintain clearance from terrain. A factor in the accident was the pilot's low total time and lack of experience in this make and model of airplane.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The airplane collided with 100-foot-tall trees as it headed up a canyon. The pilot flew about 1,000 feet over Bass Lake (elevation 3,500 feet) and then headed towards the local mountains. A campground host at the Chilkoot Campgrounds (elevation 4,700 feet) was sitting next to his trailer several miles north of Bass Lake. This trailer was oriented 350 degrees and the airplane flew by parallel to his trailer. The trees in this area were over 100 feet tall, and the airplane was approximately 100 feet over the trees and 100 feet west of the trailer. The host heard the airplane for 3 or 4 seconds before it arrived at his position, and the engine was running smoothly. Then he heard the sound increase as it passed by and thought power was being added. He lost sight of the airplane due to the trees and several seconds later heard two separate sounds of what he described as metal crunching. The density altitude was approximately 6,500 feet. From Chilcoot Campground, the terrain to the east rose about 1,000 feet within 1/2 mile; to the west about 500 feet within 1 nm; and to the north about 800 feet within 1 nm. The pilot accumulated a total time of 345 hours with 1.5 hours in this make and model, including a 1-hour checkout by an instructor pilot 2 months prior to the accident.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.