20170325002219A

With favorable weather forecasts the accident pilot scheduled the plane for a 25th march/saturday flight.

The pilot reported waking refreshed after 9 hours of sleep and checked the en route weather which was VFR and clear. The closest weather reporting to where they were headed was ksun (sun valley, ID). Ksun reported winds light and variable, overcast at 14,000 ft. at the airport, the pilot and passenger rechecked all pertinent data for that route/flight. Ksun was then reporting clear.

The pilot reported conducting a thorough preflight inspection at 11:40 am, and performing a current weight and balance with the current fuel load. Start and taxi were uneventful.

After departure, the pilot contacted big sky approach for transition and safety, then climbed to 7,500 east bound. The pilot requested flight following and climbed first to 7,500 ft, then 9,500 ft, crossing the mountains at anderson ranch reservoir knowing they would be lost on radar. From that point on, they were VFR with avcenter in nampa knowing their ation area and return time. The pilot rechecked the weather conditions at ksun and proceeded around the mountains to the southeast to the craters of the moon area.

The pilot reported flying in the mountains where the winds were light and the sky was clear in stable weather. At 1:45 pm, the pilot and passenger discussed an area they wanted to see again before returning home. During that west bound track, at the north part of the valley at approximately 9500? MSL, they turned left to cross the valley and made a right climbing turn .

After the left turn was initiated the pilot reported encountering a strong down draft. The pilot added full power, full prop and 10 degrees of flaps and pitched for vx, while simultaneously banking to the right trying to escape the downdraft and catch an updraft and/or follow the downward slope of the terrain. The pilot reported the downdraft intensified and tried to turn downstream but the downdraft was too intense. When the pilot recognized he was unable to climb out of the downdraft he made the decision to try to make the crash survivable. The pilot reported he never stopped flying the airplane.

At approximately 2:05 pm the aircraft struck the top of the trees and decelerated rapidly before striking the snow covered ground.

Once stopped, the pilot instructed the passenger to unbuckle and evacuate out the front missing windshield area and get away from the aircraft while the pilot ensured the power was off and the key was removed. The fuel lever was jammed in the open position. The pilot engaged the ELT button, which began flashing, and evacuated through the missing windshield area . There was no fuel leakage or fire.

The pilot and passenger both reported performing an inventory of each other to be sure they weren?t significantly injured. They devised a plan and made sure the aircraft was safe to approach and then returned to fuselage to recover the emergency gear to include a survival kit. The pilot activated the sos button on his inreach GPS tracker and received a text from their emergency monitoring center. The pilot then texted they were in a plane crash in the snow covered mountains. They hiked to a known open area and alerted emergency services of their location. A three person rescue team on snowmobiles recovered them at approximately 6:00 pm and transported them back to the Mackay fire department.

Both the pilot and passenger reported that the aircraft, engine, and prop performed well and that they did not think there were any performance concerns with the aircraft. They both proclaim that the downdraft was severe, and totally unexpected based upon observed and reported weather.

The physical investigation of the aircraft cannot be performed until the aircraft can be removed from the snow covered mountains. If necessary, the investigation will be reopened and amended.