20000214007449A

(-23) N3324R collided with rising terrain approximately 3 miles west of Coulterville, CA. Local residents reported that the weather at the time of th e accident was low cloud ceilings with mountains abscured and rain. The pilot and passengers injuries were fatal. There was no fire. The aircraft did not cause any property damage. (.4)on February 14, 2000, about 0945 hours pacific standard time, a Cessna 182L, N3324R, was destroyed when it impacted mountainous terrain 3 miles northwest of Coulterville, California. The instrument rated private pilot and one passenger were fatally injured. The personal flight was operated by the pilot under 14 CFR part 91 and no flight plan was filed. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at merced, 33 miles south of the accident location. The airplane departed from the fresno, California, yosemite international airport at 0832, destined for red bluff, California. Three residents in the area of the accident, who were present on the morning of the accident, reported that, until noon, the mountains were obscured in clouds with poor visibility, and there were intermittent periods of intense rainfall. A sear ch was initiated for an unknown aircraft on the afternoon of February 14, in response to reception of an emergency locator transmitter broadcast. The aircraft was located at 0650 on February 15, 2000. According to a relative, the pilot and his wife spent the night prior to the accident at their (the relative's) home in fresno. The pilot and his wife arrived in fresno Sunday afternoon en route from long beach, California, to their second home in whidbey island, Washington. It was raining on their arrival at fresno and they stopped there for the night due to unfavorable weather. The pilot checked the weather from the relative's home on Monday morning before departure. He said he was going to go VFR because he didn't want to go high due to icing, and by staying low he could circumnavigate the weather. The pilot said they would land at redding or red bluff (California) and check the weather again from there. The relative was not certain of the route the pilot planned to redding/red bluff but said that the pilot was a "great believer in GPS." He observed them takeoff to the southeast from fresno and turn out to the east. He thought the pilot might have put redding in the GPS and gone direct. He also said the pilot was well rested and had no health issues he was aware of. The pilot had made the trip between long beach and whidbey island many times.