Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Zernez Swaziland
Thursday, February 14, 2002 16:00 UTC
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
On February 14, 2002, at 1600 universal coordinated time, a Beech 300LW Super King Air, D-ICBC, was destroyed during collision with the Sarsura Glacier, Zernez, Switzerland, while on approach to the Sameden Airport (LSZS), Sameden, Switzerland. The pilot and copilot were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight that originated at the Poznan Airport, Poznan, Poland.
According to the initial notification from the Air Accidents Investigation Bureau (AAIB) of the Swiss Government, the airplane was on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight from Poznan, Poland, to Sameden, Switzerland. There was no instrument approach procedure available at Sameden, and low clouds were reported in the area of the airport at the time of the accident.
An investigator with the AAIB reported that the pilot cancelled his IFR flight plan, and initiated a visual approach to the airport. The airplane subsequently crashed on a glacier at about 9,842 feet elevation in mountainous terrain.
The weather reported at Resia Pass, Italy, 22 miles northeast of the accident site, included an overcast ceiling at 2,000 feet, with visibility one-half mile in fog.
The occupants and some documents were recovered, but inclement weather prevented examination or recovery of the wreckage at the time of notification.
The Swiss Government has jurisdiction over the accident, and requests for information about the accident should be forwarded to:
Daniel Zwick
BFU, Büro für Flugunfalluntersuchungen
BEAA, Bureau d'enquêtes sur les accidents d'aviation
AAIB, Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau
Bundeshaus Nord, CH - 3003 Bern
Tel. +41 31 323 44 78
Fax +41 31 322 55 99
Internet: http://www.bfu.admin.ch
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Not Yet Reported
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/14/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | Coordinated Universal Time? Same as GMT |
| Event City | Zernez |
| Event State | -- |
| Event Country | SWAZILAND |
| Zipcode of the event site | -- |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 460000N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0100000E |
| 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 | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | LIVE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | -- |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2000 |
| 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) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 240 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.88 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 2 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 2 |
| Investigating Agency | Foreign |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | -- |
| NTSB Notification Source | Swiss AAIB |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 15 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2002 11:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | -- |
| NTSB Number | IAD02WA031 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Non-U.S., Non-Commercial |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 300LW Super King Air |
| 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 | Leopoldstaler Strasse 195 |
| Operator City | Stanheim-Sandebeck |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | GE |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| 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 | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | EPPO |
| Departure City | Poznan |
| Departure State | -- |
| Departure Country | PL |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | -- |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | LSZS |
| Destination City | Samedan |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | SZ |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Approach |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 2 2002 11:02AM |
| User who most recently changed record | PEAR |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |