Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Bettles, Alaska 99726
Friday, September 3, 1999 11:30 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
After receiving a full weather briefing, the commercial certificated pilot departed on a VFR scheduled domestic flight with U.S. mail as the cargo. The intended route was over mountainous terrain. When the pilot opened his flight plan, the flight station specialist advised the pilot of AIRMETs for mountain obscuration and icing. After dropping mail at an intermediate stop, the pilot advised he was inbound to a planned refueling stop. The airplane did not arrive, and an ELT signal was reported 22 miles north of the refueling destination. The accident site was located the following day in a direct line between the intermediate stop and the refueling destination. The airplane collided at high speed with a mountain side at 4,500 feet msl of a 4,720 foot mountain. An area forecast included occasional ceilings below 1,000 feet, with visibility below 3 statute miles in light rain and mist. AIRMETs were issued for mountain obscuration, with mountains occasionally obscured in clouds and in precipitation. AIRMETs were issued for icing with occasional moderate rime icing in clouds and in precipitation from 6,000 to 18,000 feet. Search personnel reported that the mountain tops in the area of the ELT were obscured by fog and snow showers. The accident site was covered by about 4 inches of snow.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's continued flight into known adverse weather conditions. Factors in the accident were low ceilings and snow.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/3/1999 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1130 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | BETTLES |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99726 |
| Event Date Year | 1999 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | -- |
| Event Location Longitude | -- |
| Event Location Airport | |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1050 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 150 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAB |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 643 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 22 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| 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) | 10 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 9 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 354 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1898 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 3 1999 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1518 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9166K |
| NTSB Number | ANC99FA130 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | PA-32R-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32R7680194 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 2 1999 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 91 |
| Airframe Hours | 7531 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | EDDY MCKINNEY |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 3742 UNIVERSITY AVE. SOUTH |
| Aircraft Owner City | FAIRBANKS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99709 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SERVANT AIR INC. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| 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 | S4EA |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAKP |
| Departure City | ANAKTUVUK PASS |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 1045 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PABT |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 11 2001 4:05AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |