Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Port Heiden Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Port Heiden, Alaska 99549
Tuesady, October 30, 2001 11:50 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial certificated pilot was transporting a barrel of aviation fuel to a remote airport. The fuel was intended for company use on CFR Part 135 flights scheduled for later in the day. The pilot said he noticed snow drifts across the approach end of the runway, and he decided to over-fly the area of drifted snow. The airplane touched down about 1,000 feet from the approach end. Because there was snow on the remaining portion of the runway, the pilot said he kept his roll-out speed higher than normal to avoid getting stuck in the snow. When the pilot attempted to fully retard the engine throttle, he said the engine idle would not go below about 1,500 rpm. The pilot said he saw the end of the runway approaching, and applied the brakes, but said there was no braking action. He said he then debated about shutting off the engine, applying full brakes, and sliding off the runway. The pilot said he applied full power to go-around. The airplane became momentarily airborne before colliding with a snow-covered gravel berm. The left wing of the airplane separated from the fuselage as it bounced upward. The airplane caught fire and came to rest inverted. Witnesses and pedestrians ran to the wreckage with fire extinguishers and pulled the pilot from the wreckage. The airplane was destroyed. Witnesses reported three airplanes landed before the arrival of the accident airplane. The witnesses said the accident airplane landed on the runway, but added engine power as it approached within about 300 feet of the end of the runway. The airplane appeared to become airborne to a height of about 18 inches, and did not gain any additional altitude. The airplane then collided with the gravel berm. The runway is 6,250 feet long, and 100 feet wide. An FAA NOTAM had been issued for the airport, stating, in part: "Patchy 1/2 inch of packed snow and ice on the runway; runway plowed 100 feet wide; 24 inch berms outside of plowed area."
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's delay in aborting the landing. Factors in the accident were snow and ice on the runway surface, and the pilot's excessive taxi speed.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 10/30/2001 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1150 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | PORT HEIDEN |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99549 |
| Event Date Year | 2001 |
| Event Date Month | 10 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 565734N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1583755W |
| Event Location Airport | PORT HEIDEN |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAPH |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.04 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 230 |
| Airport Elevation | 88 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1155 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAPH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 88 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 80 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.54 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Serious |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 12091 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA REGIONAL OPERATIONS CENTER |
| NTSB Notification Date | Oct 30 2001 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1240 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 26 2002 11:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5573J |
| NTSB Number | ANC02LA004 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Piper |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-260 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-1018 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 29 2001 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 2 |
| Airframe Hours | 5112 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | REDEMPTION INC. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | KODIAK |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99615 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| 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 | RI9A |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | KDK |
| Departure City | KODIAK |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1020 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAPH |
| Destination City | PORT HEIDEN |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing - aborted |
| Report sent to ICAO? | No |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 12 2002 1:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 23 |
| Runway Length | 6250 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |