Mooney M20E Super 21, N7145U: Accident occurred October 09, 2013 in Julian, California

http://registry.faa.gov/N7145U

NTSB Identification: WPR14FA012 
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Wednesday, October 09, 2013 in Julian, CA
Aircraft: MOONEY M20E, registration: N7145U
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On October 9, 2013, about 1443 Pacific daylight time, a Mooney M20E airplane, N7145U, collided with terrain near Julian, California. The pilot/owner was operating the airplane under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91. The private pilot and one passenger sustained fatal injuries; the airplane was destroyed from impact forces. The cross-country personal flight departed Palm Springs, California, at an undetermined time with a planned destination of Gillespie Field, El Cajon, California. Visual meteorological (VMC) conditions prevailed, and no flight plan had been filed.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the pilot was receiving visual flight rules (VFR) flight following from San Diego Approach Control. The controller lost radio and radar contact at 1443, and issued an alert notice (ALNOT). San Diego County Search and Rescue personnel located the wreckage about 0100 PDT on October 10, 2013. The wreckage was on a 60-degree slope of Vulcan Mountain at an elevation of 4,200 feet. They reported that the airplane had fragmented.
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 A man and woman who were killed when a light plane headed from Palm Springs to El Cajon crashed northeast of Julian were identified Saturday as the plane's registered owner and his girlfriend, authorities said.

Roberta Ann Rose, 52, and Andrew William Thulin, 55, both of San Diego, were en route to Gillespie Filed in the Mooney M20E when aircraft control reported that the plane had gone missing about 6:15 p.m. Wednesday over the Volcan Mountain Wilderness Preserve, according to sheriff's officials and the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office.

A sheriff's helicopter was unable to fly over the mountainous area because of sleet, light snow and high winds in the area where the aircraft was last known to be flying. Search-and-rescue personnel were sent to look for the plane using coordinates obtained from a signal off the pilot's cell phone, authorities said.

The wreckage of the aircraft was found on a rugged, steep hillside about a half-mile from a road at the top of Volcan Mountain early Thursday with the bodies of Rose and Thulin in its cockpit, the Medical Examiner's Office and sheriff's officials reported.

Recovery of the bodies was postponed until Thursday afternoon due to the severe weather, authorities said.

Reported by City News Service in San Diego County