Originally Posted by
Helisweet
An usual way to avoid this kind of scud runnig accidents is going to destination in a low level route following shore-line. Why he decided to go through mountain low pass??
Because it was cloudy along the coast. Coastal California is notorious for coastal clouds and fog, which can dissipate by mid-day and change rapidly by just going a few miles inland. It can be socked it at the coast, and bright and sunny a half mile inland (and at takeoff location). See post 161 for flight paths taken on previous flights and the accident flight. The coastal fog seemed worse than normal on this day, prompting a decision to take a further inland route up intestate 5 to the San Fernando Valley, then west.