LAX00FA324 · Bellanca 17-30

The airplane impacted the side of a mountain, 200 feet below its crest, while in a cruise descent after encountering adverse weather conditions at night. The airline transport pilot did not obtain a weather briefing prior to departing for the cross-country flight, nor was there any evidence that he obtained in-flight weather information while en route. Radar data depicted the airplane southbound on a direct heading toward Stellar Airpark. The radar data depicted the airplane descending from 7,000 feet to 3,000 feet msl. The radar track depicted the airplane turning toward the east at a point north of the Scottsdale airport, continuing in the turn until it disappeared from the scope at the same coordinates that corresponded to the crash site. The last radar reported altitude, heading, and groundspeed were 3,000 feet, 140 degrees, and 156 knots, respectively. The coordinates of the last radar return corresponded to the crash site. The wreckage was located within a 100-foot radius of the initial impact point. The airspeed indicator was found at the site with the needle impinged at the 160-knot point on the instrument face. A meteorological study revealed that severe weather, which included dust storms and convective activity, was prevalent in the area at the time of the accident. The severe weather was a result of the area's seasonal monsoon. Dark night lighting conditions also prevailed at the time of the accident. The pilot's partner in the accident airplane stated that it was common for the pilot to stay below the floor of class B airspace (4,000 feet msl) while transitioning through the area en route to Stellar Airpark. He told investigators that it is frequently difficult for visual flight rules (VFR) traffic to get a clearance from controllers because of their high workload.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset