Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Ekuk Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ekuk, Alaska 99695
Wednesday, January 26, 2000 15:15 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot was landing on a privately maintained, 1,200 feet long, snow-covered runway. The pilot told the NTSB investigator-in-charge that his flight scheduler told him the village agent had said the runway was plowed, graded, and open. He indicated that he made a low pass to inspect the runway, and it appeared open. During the landing roll, the left wing struck a snow berm and sustained substantial damage. The runway had been plowed about 1,000 feet long, and about 40 feet wide. The pilot indicated the berms on the side of the runway were about 6 feet high, and not visible from the air. The tips of the airplane's wings were about 4 feet high. The Alaska Supplement contains the statement for the airport that the 'runways are not maintained during winter months.'
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable runway for landing. Factors associated with the accident were the inadequate runway maintenance by the runway maintenance personnel, snow berms, and insufficient runway condition information disseminated by the company dispatcher.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/26/2000 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1515 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | EKUK |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99695 |
| Event Date Year | 2000 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | EKUK |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | KKU |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 30 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2400 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Unknown |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -14 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 50 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 15 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 18 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 28 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 217 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 26 2000 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1701 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 13 2001 3:19PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N8004N |
| NTSB Number | ANC00LA022 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32-301 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-8206014 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3600 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 8 2000 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 36 |
| Airframe Hours | 6619 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PENINSULA AIRWAYS, INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6100 BOEING AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99502 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | PNSA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CLP |
| Departure City | CLARKS POINT |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1505 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | KKU |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 4 2001 7:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 1 |
| Runway Length | 1200 |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |