GS wrote:
I agree but these these were not really mountains. There are no
airports in these "mountains" either so really these bumps are only
during the enroute phase. Big woop. Typically You are cruising
along typically at 6000 to 8000 feet all fat dumb and happy. There
is literally no reason to be lower. The killer (literally, no pun
intended) was the pilot was pushed lower and/or continued into IMC and was
forced lower into ground whether that was at 0 MSL or 3000 MSL.

I disagree. I believe (and I could be wrong) that he took of into low
clouds (IMC), lost control, and spun it in. FYI: He crashed 4 miles east of
his departure airport.


I've flown in this area a bunch of times. If I were VFR-only, I would
NOT have chosen this route especially at night. Following
Interstate 5 gives you nearly continuous visual contact with the
ground below.

Sure, but to get to Hwy 5 you need to cross these hills. Anyway, if he had
actually managed to get to Hwy 5, I bet he would have headed for Fresno
(east) and not followed Hwy 5 (SE).


There was just a Lear accident at Truckee. That is mountainous terrain.
what those guys did was insane. Mountainous with known severe updrafts
and downdrafts, at visibility minimums (I don't have any reports on the
ceiling), in snow or rain and probably below freezing, non-precision
approaches only with one of which only is a circle to land. Ummm,
sounds to me like they should have gone to Reno's 11000 foot runway
with an ILS.

Where did you get all that meteorological condition information? There were
witness reports of watching the airplane on the approach, so I would
question you comment "visibility minimums".

Hilton