Piper J3C-65 N3627N

Summary

On 19 June 2024 at about 21:30 local time, a Piper J3C-65 registered N3627N was involved in an accident near Scheelite, California, United States. One person was on board and one was seriously injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 June 2024 at 21:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Scheelite, California, United States

Coordinates

37.3102, -118.7198

Aircraft

Piper J3C-65

Registration

N3627N

Category

Airplane

Year built

1947

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Modesto → Bishop

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

WPR24LA207

1 person was seriously injured.

The pilot’s inadvertent entry to a box canyon where the airplane could not outclimb the rising terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot reported that he had recently purchased the airplane and while flying through mountainous terrain, he mistakenly flew the airplane into a boxed canyon. He felt that the bigger engine would help the airplane climb over the mountains. He noticed the terrain was rising faster than expected but was unable to turn around due constrictive terrain. Realizing the airplane was not going to clear the ridge and concerned the airplane would stall if he attempted to turn around in the narrow pass, he looked for an area to make an off-airport landing. The pilot noticed an area that had a tree and elected to use the tree to take the brunt of the impact during landing. He reduced the airspeed and impacted the tree, which resulted in substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. Additionally, the pilot reported that he was seated in the rear seat of the airplane and was not able to lean the engine due to the fuel mixture controls being located in the front seat of the airplane. He believed that the combination of high altitude and the inability to lean the airplane’s engine, degraded the airplane’s performance. The pilot reported that there were no preaccident mechanical failures or malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Postaccident site examination by local law enforcement revealed that the airplane impacted rugged, remote, mountainous terrain at an elevation 11,200 ft mean sea level (msl). The calculated density altitude was about 12,500 ft.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.