Preliminary Report: Caravan pilot did not get WX briefing

Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, Naches, Wash., Oct. 7, 2007–The commercial pilot and nine passengers died when the Caravan crashed in the mountains near Naches, at 7:59 p.m. No flight plan was filed for the flight from Star, Idaho, to Shelton, Wash., and the pilot did not obtain a weather briefing. There was an airmet for icing, low-level turbulence and mountain obscuration. The nearest reporting station, Yakima, Wash., had VMC but IMC prevailed at the accident site, according to a hunter on the ground, who reported cloud bases below the mountain tops with misty rain conditions and low visibility. Having seen the airplane’s lights and heard a “thud,” he called local officials. The passengers were members of a Washington skydiving club.