Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Sea Of Okhotsk
Sunday, July 8, 2001 13:45

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

On July 8, 2001, approximately 1345 local time (0245UTC), a Pilatus PC-12/45, N660NR, registered to a US private owner, operated by Jeflyn Aviation, Inc. doing business as Access Air, and being flown by a US certificated airline transport rated pilot, was presumed destroyed following a ditching in the Sea of Okhotsk, Western Pacific Ocean. The pilot sustained minor injuries and the three remaining Japanese passengers were uninjured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an IFR flight plan had been filed and activated. The flight, which was returning to the United States following a round-the-world trip, was being operated under 14CFR91 as a business trip. The aircraft had originated from Hakodate, Japan, departing 0910 hours local time and was destined for Magadan, Russia. The pilot reported in a telephonic interview that the aircraft was established in cruise at 8,100 meters altitude when he felt a vibration followed by a rapid increase in the engine's Turbine Temperature Indication (TTI). He reported that the TTI reached 1144 degrees during which there was a compressor stall. He shut the engine down, feathered the propeller, and initiated a power off emergency descent. During the emergency descent the pilot radioed a mayday on 121.5 MHz, set his transponder to code 7700, and manually activated the emergency locator beacon. The aircraft descended through multiple cloud layers during which the pilot and passengers prepared for the ditching. The pilot reported that upon breaking through the bottom of the last overcast layer, at 100 feet above the water, he encountered swells of approximately 8-12 feet height. He ditched the aircraft on the crest of a swell and the aircraft came to a stop floating in an upright, level attitude. All four occupants exited the aircraft through the main cabin door into a life raft. Over a period of several hours the occupants lost sight of the floating aircraft and after about 15 hours they were picked up by a Russian container ship and airlifted to Sakhalin Island. This report is for information purposes only. The investigation is under the jurisdiction of the Government of Russia. Any further information pertaining to this accident may be obtained from: Interstate Aviation Committee Ivan K. Mulkydjanov Vice-Chairman ATAIC 22/2/1, Bolshaya Ordynka St. Moscow, 109017, Russia

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Not Yet Reported

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/8/2001
Event Day of the Week Sunday
Time of Event 1345
Event Time Zone --
Event City Sea of Okhotsk
Event State PACIFIC OCEAN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site --
Event Date Year 2001
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 493900N
Event Location Longitude 1451600E
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport --
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness --
Investigator's weather source Pilot
Time of the weather observation
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) --
Weather Observation Facility ID --
Elevation of weather observation facility --
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) --
Time Zone of the weather observation --
Lighting Conditions --
Lowest Ceiling Height 100
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Unknown
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) --
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator --
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 1
Injury Total None 3
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 1
Investigating Agency Foreign
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) --
NTSB Notification Source FAA SEA ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 8 2001 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 800
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information --
Date of most recent change to record Jul 10 2001 2:06PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Boise FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N660NR
NTSB Number SEA01WA125
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire --
Aircraft Explosion --
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Pilatus
Aircraft Model PC-12/45
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number --
Certified Max Gross Weight --
Aircraft Category Airplane
Aircraft Registration Class --
Aircraft is a homebuilt? No
Flight Crew Seats --
Cabin Crew Seats --
Passenger Seats --
Total number of seats on the aircraft --
Number of Engines --
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection --
Date of Last Inspection --
Airframe hours since last inspection --
Airframe Hours --
ELT Installed --
ELT Activated --
ELT Aided Location of Event Site --
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name --
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City --
Aircraft Owner State --
Aircraft Owner Country --
Aircraft Owner Zipcode --
Operator is an individual? --
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? --
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? --
Operator Street Address 4546 West Aeronca
Operator City Boise
Operator State ID
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code 83705
Operator Code JL9A
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not --
Indicates Domestic or International Flight --
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail --
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) Business
Second Pilot on Board --
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code RJCH
Departure City Hakodate
Departure State --
Departure Country JA
Departure Time 2210
Departure Time Zone UTC
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code UHMM
Destination City Magadan
Destination State --
Destination Country RS
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise - normal
Report sent to ICAO? Yes
Evacuation occurred Yes
Date of most recent change to record Jul 10 2001 2:06PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --