On 12/6/77 the twin engine Piper PA-23-250 Aztec N5001Y was on a flight believed en route from Mexico to an unknown destination when it crashed due to fuel exhaustion onto a hillside in Nevada's Toiyabe National Forest. The two 29 year old men onboard survived the accident and were found two days later by motorists as they crawled injured along a road approximately nine miles from the crash site. They were transported to Nye General Hospital in Tonopah and treated for broken legs. When questioned by authorities, they stated that they had been involved in an automobile accident. Later when trackers came upon the wreckage of their airplane, they discovered that it was loaded with 725 pounds of marijuana. By the time the authorities had figured out what happened, the two injured men had been transported to the French Hospital in San Francisco, California. Sheriff's officers were able to collect enough evidence at the crash site for a Nevada Judge to sign arrest warrants and fix bail at $100,000. Evidence collected included finger prints, blood samples and in the suspects vacated Nevada hospital room, the key to the airplane.

After a three and a half hour drive on highways starting from Lone Pine, California, I started the hour drive on dirt roads to the site. Doesn't look like many folks drive these roads, they were overgrown in many places.

A few years ago, I was given the location of this crash site. At the time I was told that it was an unknown twin that was spotted by the Civil Air Patrol during the search for the missing Bellanca Super Decathlon N240R flown by Steve Fossett. I hope to be able to identify the plane and learn it's story.

My first view of the crash site. It's about half a mile ahead near the base of the hill.

View of the site from where I parked.

There were a few large pieces at the base of the hill.

The first piece I came to was from the fuselage nose section, just in front of the windshield. The bottom edge of the windshield frame is still attached.

Other side of the same piece.

Another view.

A piece from the interior with a section of window frame.

Ashtray holder on the same piece.

Another section of the interior was nearby. This one had an armrest on it.

Closer view of the armrest. The rectangular hole is for an ashtray.

Other side of the same piece.

When I first saw this, wasn't sure what it was. It's about five feet long and constructed from fiberglass.

Turning it over, I could see that it was the right wing tip. While searching for photos of Aztecs online, I came upon a pair of these tips for sale. They were described as "Piper PA-23 Aztec/Apache Metco Fuel Tips +48 gallons". Seems that the 48 extra gallons weren't enough as the cause of this accident was fuel exhaustion.

Looks like this might be the remains of a wing rib.

Found this piece as I started up the hill towards the main group of wreckage.

Up ahead I could see a section of the fuselage and other large pieces farther up the hill.

Closer view of the fuselage section, the piece in front of it is from the wing. From the windows I was able to tell that this was a Piper Aztec. Knowing that and it's location, I was able to indemnify which one and find the story behind the accident.

Closer view showing the vent window and emergency exit.

The other side of the same fuselage section. Part of the door frame can be seem.

The piece from the wing looks like it's from the outer section of the right wing.

Looking down on the fuselage section as I continue up the hill.

View up the hill. There were a lot of small scattered pieces leading up to the larger ones.

Piece of a fiberglass fairing.

Piece with a window.

Turning it over, I could tell it was the middle window on the right side. The two holes below the window are for the handle to assist in entering the plane. The edge of the door frame is on the right.

One of the exhaust pipes with a piece from the engine nacelle attached.

Piece of the fuselage frame with some skin attached. Another is in the background.

These are the large pieces I spotted from lower down the hill. It's the inboard section of the right wing with part of the cockpit and most of the left wing.

Front view of the right wing and cockpit section.

Closer view of the wing section showing the firewall on the engine nacelle.

Hear exchanger on the firewall with it's ducting. Think it's an oil cooler.

This view shows the wing walk.

Front view of the cockpit section.

What remains of the cockpit.

Rear view of the wreckage.

The throttle quadrant and piece of the instrument panel.

Closer view of the throttle quadrant with the throttle, prop control and mixture levers.

Another view.

This is marked as the "Cabin Aircontrol Panel".

I think that this is the stall horn.

Control cable pulley in the cockpit area. There's a shotgun shell in the corner of the photo. Was surprised and happy to see that the wreckage wasn't shot at. Someone must have been hunting in the area.

Another view of the right inboard wing section showing the wing walk and engine nacelle.

Backside of the firewall.

Another piece from the fuselage frame.

Looks like an air filter. Also in this photo there are pieces of carpet, cabin floor and window.

Rear view of the left wing.