The pilot’s misidentification of a mountain pass at night, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident were the pilot’s overconfidence based on her previous aviation experience and fatigue due to both the time of the flight and her work schedule. Also contributing was the pilot’s decision not to install an automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) system, which forced a flightpath close to mountainous terrain to avoid the Mode-C and ADS-B Out veil.
N6323R
1966 PIPER PA-28-140
Fixed wing single engine · Reciprocating · Standard
1 NTSB record
for this tail number, including substantial damage, 2 fatal injuries. See the full record below.
Registration
Airframe
Powerplant
Live Flight Status
Checking live traffic…
Coverage depends on ground receiver reception and is not a complete picture of traffic.
Transponder & Tracking
The hex code is the aircraft's ICAO 24-bit address, broadcast by its ADS-B transponder. It is the key used to match live position reports to this registration.
NTSB Accident & Incident Record
Jun 18, 2021
Accident
Substantial Rush Valley, UT
Injuries2 fatal
Phase of Flight-
ConditionsVMC
OperationFAR 091
Probable Cause
NTSB WPR21FA231