San Bernardino Mountains Mooney M20E N1385W 5/18/13
Read MoreOn 5/7/71 the Mooney M20E N1385W was on a flight from Los Angeles, California to Scottsdale, Arizona. When it failed to arrive at it's destination a search was started. The wreckage of the plane was located three days later by a California Highway Patrol helicopter in the San Bernardino Mountains. The plane flew into trees on ridge while being flown by a non instrument rated pilot in adverse weather with snow, icing conditions, turbulence and visibility of less than a quarter mile. Killed in the accident were the pilot, his wife and five year old daughter.
On the search for the Mooney N1385W. I came to this area to look for the another crash site, but after spending a couple of hours and not finding it, I gave up. It was still early so I decided to search for the Mooney which should be somewhere in the same area. I haven't been getting out much lately and it was such a nice day, it just felt good being out in the mountains.
From the area that I found the balloon, I used a pair 10X50 binoculars to scan the area and something white caught my eye. I wasn't sure that it was the Mooney, but it definitely looked like aircraft wreckage. Problem was that it was about a mile away and there was a steep 1000 foot deep canyon between me and it. Have to find another way to approach it.