Most people don't know this, but there are at least six small aircraft wrecks in the Black Mountain Range, home of Mount Mitchell, the highest peak in Eastern North America.
All the ones I'm familiar with are small Cessna type planes like this one. Some crashed into the mountain due to weather, and at least one set down under control after a mechanical problem. The pilot and passenger in that one both survived. Most others were not so fortunate.
It isn't too hard to fathom why there are so many. Most of these planes fly below 5,000 ft in unregulated airspace. Most of the Black Mountain range is over 6,000 ft in elevation and often obscured in clouds.
The saddest part of the story, perhaps, is that both of the crash sites I've been to so far are only fifty feet below the ridge line. A little bit more altitude and they probably would have made it.
I'm currently trying to find out more about the history of some of these incidents and hope to locate all the wrecks. If you know anything please let me know.
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