Piper PA-28-180 accident near Reno, Nevada, October 24, 1998

The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record

Following departure, the pilot climbed southwest and was attempting to cross the Sierra Nevada Mountains from east to west when he reported encountering a downdraft. The pilot stated that he maintained best rate of climb airspeed and the aircraft continued to descend until it went below the tops of the surrounding ridges into a canyon which was too narrow to attempt a course reversal. As the ground neared, the pilot flared and the aircraft touched down in a rocky area on the mountainside and slid forward until contacting a boulder. The accident site is at the 7,500-foot level on a mountain 10 miles southwest of his departure airport. Transcripts of land line and air-to-ground communications established that the pilot received four preflight weather briefings and one in-flight weather update, and was advised each time that VFR flight was not recommended over his intended route due to an approaching cold front. Flight precautions were in effect for mountain obscurement, occasional moderate turbulence due increasing westerly winds, occasional moderate rime and mixed icing in clouds and precipitation, and forecast IFR conditions at his destination. An FAA inspector lives on the lower slopes of the mountain below the accident site. He reported that in the early morning hours the top of the mountain was obscured by clouds, with rain and lower ceilings occurring later in the morning. In addition, he stated that the hills which define the mountain pass (north of the accident site and west of the airport) through which the main east-west interstate highway traverses from Reno to Sacramento was obscured by ragged low clouds.

The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.