Trouble in a Turbo-Mentor.

A pilot was on a routine flight ferrying a passenger in a T-34C from one West Coast air station to another. The Turbo-Mentor departed under a visual flight rules tower-to-tower clearance. Once airborne, the pilot canceled his clearance with the departure air station tower and leveled at 2,500 feet. He then turned north, and eight miles from the base turned east toward a canyon area. The tops of the surrounding ridgeline and peaks in the canyon were obscured by clouds. The overcast bottom was touching the canyon walls.

The T-34C continued in a northeast direction into the canyon, now under instrument meteorological conditions. Shortly thereafter, the pilot commenced a level, reverse turn at 20-25 degrees angle of bank to exit the canyon. Instead, the Turbo-Mentor struck the north canyon wall. Both occupants were killed, the aircraft destroyed.

Grampaw Pettibone says:

A canyon catastrophe! Over the years Ole Gramps has reviewed more than a few such accidents. In most encounters between canyons and flying machines, the canyons win. Complacency reared its ugly head prior to the sortie when weather conditions weren't carefully considered. Then the pilot misjudged the distance to the canyon wall in the turn, with fatal consequences. 'Nuff said!