Mountain Accident Thread

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pelmet
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Mountain Accident Thread

Post by pelmet »

N1423P, a privately registered, Piper PA-14 (Family Cruiser), was conducting a 3-day flight from
Arlington municipal airport (KAWO), WA, USA, to Dillingham airport (PADL), AK, USA, with only the
pilot on board. After refueling in Abbotsford (CYXX), BC, the pilot intended to fly to Quesnel
(CYQZ), BC, via the published visual flight rules (VFR) route from Hope, BC. He departed CYXX
and climbed to approximately 3300 feet above sea level (ASL) and proceeded along the VFR route
north towards Lytton, BC where the route turns east following the Thompson River. Approaching
Lytton, the pilot’s iPad, which was being used as a GPS display and an electronic chart,
overheated and became unserviceable. At Lytton, the pilot continued north following the Fraser
River towards Lillooet (CYLI), BC. Upon recognizing the unintended navigation, the pilot turned
east to regain the intended route. There were clouds at the eastern end of the valley into which the
pilot turned and, due to rising terrain, the pilot attempted to reverse course. During the reversal, the
aircraft struck trees on the northern slope of the valley. The aircraft impacted terrain coming to rest
approximately 13 nautical miles southeast of CYLI at approximately 4700 feet ASL.

The aircraft sustained substantial damage, and the pilot was seriously injured. There was no flight
plan or flight itinerary filed for this flight. No signal from the aircraft's 406MHz emergency locator
transmitter (ELT) was received, but the pilot activated a personal locator beacon (PLB) and this
signal was received by the Canadian Mission Control Centre initiating the search and rescue
response. The pilot was located approximately 5.5 hours after the impact and transported to
hospital.
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7ECA
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by 7ECA »

It would be nice, if you could post the CADORS date/timestamps for these reports.
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pelmet
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by pelmet »

7ECA wrote: Fri Jul 08, 2022 7:47 am It would be nice, if you could post the CADORS date/timestamps for these reports.
I'll try to remember. I delete them after I finish reading them to reduce the size of my In Box, so can't do it for any past ones. Sometimes a Google search with a guess at a news story title can work as well.
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Castorero
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by Castorero »

Tough place to be stuck without a map, around Lilloet.
I have a personal aversion to using the GPS in mountainous terrain, which is pretty much all of BC.

I still fly with the paper map on my lap and occasionally look at the GPS for ground speed.
In bad weather the GPS is a dangerous siren that can lead you directly into an obstacle in your path.

I dont want to sound like a smug dickus here, but there is some sad history behind my paranoia that came at the expense of three lives near my home turf, who ignored good advise to stay put because of poor weather and visibility and carried on, because "we have a GPS".
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rookiepilot
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by rookiepilot »

Lucky to be alive. Very, very lucky.

Map on lap: Absolutely, finger tracing position.
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CpnCrunch
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by CpnCrunch »

https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/280160

METAR CYHE 242100Z AUTO 11003KT 030V140 9SM CLR 25/08 A3017 RMK SLP217 DENSITY ALT 1100FT=

Not too hot. Usually it is sunlight that causes ipad overheating. Remove it from any cover and place it out of the sun, and it should (hopefully) come back online. It's fine to use a gps, but you need some kind of backup whether it's paper maps or another gps.

You also need to be aware of other issues with handheld GPSs. My ipad, phone and Garmin Aera portable all sometimes lose GPS signal. The only thing you can truly trust is a panel mounted GPS with an external antenna.

And if using the ipad in sunlight with GPS and foreflight can drain the battery fairly quickly (3-4 hours).
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cncpc
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by cncpc »

pelmet wrote: Fri Jul 08, 2022 6:07 am Upon recognizing the unintended navigation, the pilot turned
east to regain the intended route.
I don't see why Lytton to Lillooet is "unintended navigation. Lytton is on the Fraser River, so is Lillooet, and so is Quesnel. Pretty well a straight shot.
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‘Bob’
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by ‘Bob’ »

cncpc wrote:
pelmet wrote: Upon recognizing the unintended navigation, the pilot turned
east to regain the intended route.
I don't see why Lytton to Lillooet is "unintended navigation. Lytton is on the Fraser River, so is Lillooet, and so is Quesnel. Pretty well a straight shot.
You can follow the Snake River on the way from Spokane to Boise as well.. but I wouldn’t recommend it for the same reasons.

If you’re high, sure. But if weather forces you down you’ll be in trouble in a hurry.

That’s why the VFR route goes through Cache Creek. It’s not required, just recommended. But don’t kill yourself trying to get back to it.
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co-joe
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Re: Mountain Accident Thread

Post by co-joe »

This is why I keep an up to date (ish) Flight Plan Go on my phone at all times. It has the option to download VTA, VNC, LO, and HE maps, stitched together with your phone gps position overlayed, as well as all the Navcan and FAA approach plates, and the CFS. Takes a bit of memory space, worth the peace of mind.
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