Robert Fredrick Ayers

Status:

Open

Jurisdiction:

Siskiyou County Sheriffs Department (CA)

Missing From:

Mount Shasta, CA

Summary:

Robert F. Ayers, 69, a retired military veteran, flight instructor and former Alaska bush pilot from Ferndale, Washington, was flying home from visiting family in Southern California on June 18, 2005 when his Piper Cherokee flew into the east face of Mount Shasta at about 11,400 feet in cloud. The wreckage was found two days later below the Konwakiton Glacier, but avalanche danger has prevented every recovery attempt. His body has never been recovered.

Vital Statistics

Circumstances of Disappearance:

Robert Fredrick Ayers, 69, of Ferndale, Washington, was a pilot and flight instructor who had retired from careers in the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Navy and later worked as a bush pilot in Alaska, delivering food and supplies to remote communities. He flew to Southern California at least twice a year to visit relatives. On Saturday, June 18, 2005, he was flying home from a visit to family (the sheriff's office says his trip began in San Diego) in his 1968 Piper PA-28R-180 Cherokee Arrow, registration N4506J. He departed Willows, California, bound for Bellingham, Washington. At about 1:53 p.m. the airplane struck the upper east face of Mount Shasta at about 11,400 feet, roughly 2,400 feet below the 14,179-foot summit. The National Transportation Safety Board found that instrument meteorological conditions prevailed and that the summit was obscured by cloud, with tops near 16,000 feet; the pilot had received a weather briefing, and conditions matched the forecast. Radar data showed the airplane climbing to about 11,500 feet on a direct track toward the accident site. The NTSB classified the accident as controlled flight into terrain and gave the probable cause as the pilot's continued cruise flight into instrument meteorological conditions. The Civil Air Patrol reported that an emergency locator transmitter signal had been picked up by satellite, first placed west of Mount Eddy and strongest around McCloud; it was then traced to the east face of Mount Shasta. On Monday, June 20, 2005, the wreckage of a single-engine airplane was located on the lower Konwakiton Glacier at about 11,400 feet and identified as Mr. Ayers' aircraft. Aerial photographs showed all of the airplane's aerodynamic surfaces present and no sign of fire. Because the site lies in an extremely hazardous avalanche zone, neither search and rescue climbers nor NTSB investigators were able to reach it. The National Guard began and then cancelled several recovery attempts because of the danger, and a later attempt in September was also called off for the safety of the rescuers. By January 2007 the wreckage had slid about 1,000 feet down the mountain and lay below the Konwakiton Glacier on the mountain's eastern face, a spot the U.S. Forest Service's Mount Shasta Avalanche Center described as inaccessible. Siskiyou County Sheriff Rick Riggins said he sympathized with the family but would not ask crews to risk their lives for a body recovery; Forest Service climbing ranger Eric White said the plane might eventually slide to a place where a recovery could be made safely. Mr. Ayers' sister, Susan Graves, and daughter, Llana Hinojos, spoke publicly about their frustration at the delay and their wish to learn what happened. Mr. Ayers' body has never been recovered. The Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office carries his case on its Unsolved Siskiyou list, and a NamUs record was created in February 2026.

Additional Details:

Anyone with information is asked to call the Siskiyou County Sheriff's Office at (530) 841-2900. Conditions on the mountain are reported by the Mount Shasta Avalanche Center (shastaavalanche.org).

Case Last Updated:

Oct 23, 2026