Siletz Bay Airport: Gleneden Beach, Oregon

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The pilot reported that he was in-flight maneuvering over the airstrip to determine runway conditions. There was ground fog present and the lighting conditions were "very dark." The pilot circled the airstrip three or four times and he had the rotating beacon and runway lights in sight, however, he lost sight of the runway lights and when he passed by the rotating beacon he pulled up and heard something hit the right wing. The pilot believed that he was near the southwest end of the airport environment when this happened. The pilot stated that he was unsure if he hit a tree or a bird, but decided not to land and diverted to another airport 42 nautical miles to the northeast, where a landing was made without further incident. Inspection of the aircraft revealed that the right wing tip, to include the outboard rib and about half of the right side aileron had been torn away.

Debris identified as belonging to the airplane was found washed ashore along a small stretch of Oregon coast line, and the bodies of the pilot and passenger washed ashore several days later. Witnesses reported seeing a low flying airplane that matched the description of the accident airplane maneuvering along the coastline around 1400. The witnesses said the airplane was flying very low and making steep turns over the coastline. No witnesses reported seeing the actual accident occur. The first identified pieces of aircraft debris washed ashore around 1500. The pilot's body washed ashore 4 days later, and the passenger's body washed ashore 6 days later. The airplane wreckage has not been located. The private pilot and single passenger, who was also a private pilot but not current, arrived to a small breakfast fly-in around 1000 in a rented airplane. The airport they flew into was a small, uncontrolled, airport on the Oregon coast that does not have
automatic weather observation equipment. Weather reported at an airport 23 miles south of the accident area from 1200 to 1500 consisted of ceilings initially around 400 to 500 feet overcast and improving to 500 feet scattered; 4,100 feet broken by 1550; visibility was between 7 and 10 miles; and there was no precipitation. Numerous AIRMETs were issued for IFR conditions between 0745 and 1423 for the area that the accident aircraft was operating. A study performed by a Safety Board Meteorological Specialist concluded that the probable weather conditions existing at the time and location of the accident was a ceiling of 500 feet with multiple cloud layers above. Tops of the first cloud layer were near 4,000 feet. Flight visibility was zero miles in the clouds and close to 3 miles below  the lowest cloud base in mist. Neither pilot held an instrument rating. (Lincoln City)