Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Ketchikan, Alaska 99901
Monday, August 19, 2002 7:45 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
Two airplanes operated by the same company, a float-equipped deHavilland DHC-2 Beaver, and a float-equipped deHavilland DHC-3 Turbine Otter, collided in midair as they were en route to the same remote destination. The Beaver sustained minor damage to the floats, and the Turbine Otter sustained substantial damage to the top portion of the wings, the fuselage, and vertical stabilizer. The collision occurred over an area of coastal channels and fjords. The pilot of the Beaver stated that his airplane was the first of three company airplanes to depart. Once airborne, and clear of the class E airspace, he changed radio frequencies to monitor a common traffic advisory frequency. He said that about 15 minutes after departure, while in level cruise flight, about 2,000 feet above the water, he felt a sudden thump, followed by a pronounced airframe shudder. He then observed the top of the left wing of the Turbine Otter to his left side, just under the floats of his airplane. He said that just after the two airplanes collided, the Turbine Otter made a left, descending turn, away from his airplane. He said that after determining that he still had full flight control, he elected to return to the operator's base of operation. The pilot of theTurbine Otter said that his airplane was the second of three airplanes. He said that he departed about 5 minutes after the Beaver, and proceeded on a northerly heading, while climbing the airplane to about 2,200 feet. He said that he changed radio frequencies to monitor a common traffic advisory frequency. He said that about 10 minutes after departure, he heard one of the passengers seated in the rear of the airplane yell "airplane." About two seconds later, the pilot heard a loud scrape on the top portion of the airplane. The pilot said that just after the impact, he experienced some difficulty in controlling the airplane, but was soon able to regain partial control, and subsequently made an emergency landing in the ocean waters in the channel. The pilot of theTurbine Otter reported that his airplane was about 10 knots faster than the Beaver.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The failure of the pilot of the other airplane to maintain an adequate visual lookout, which resulted in a midair collision between the two airplanes.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/19/2002 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 745 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Ketchikan |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99901 |
| Event Date Year | 2002 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | Yes |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 552100N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1314000W |
| 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 | 12 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 360 |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Full |
| 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 | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 8 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.01 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 16 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 13538 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ANC FAA, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 19 2002 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 915 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 1 2003 9:44AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Juneau FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
||
|---|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
Aircraft #2 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N64393 | N409PA |
| NTSB Number | ANC02LA098A | ANC02LA098B |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes | Yes |
| Damage | Minor | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-2 | DHC-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 845 | 409 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5370 | 7967 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 5 | 11 |
| Number of Engines | 1 | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 9 2002 12:00AM | Aug 5 2002 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 43.8 | 62.3 |
| Airframe Hours | 29665.3 | 9541.3 |
| ELT Installed | Yes | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No | No |
| ELT Type | -- | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PROMECH, Inc. | Pantechnicon Avaition, Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1515 Tongass Avenue | 935 NW 24th Avenue |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ketchikan | Portland |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK | OR |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99901 | 97210 |
| Operator is an individual? | No | No |
| Operator Name | -- | PROMECH, Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- | 1515 Tongass Avenue |
| Operator City | -- | Ketchikan |
| Operator State | -- | AK |
| Operator Country | -- | USA |
| Operator Zip code | -- | 99901 |
| Operator Code | PJMA | PJMA |
| 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 | Non-scheduled | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes | No |
| Departure Airport Code | 5KE | 5KE |
| Departure City | Ketchikan | Ketchikan |
| Departure State | AK | AK |
| Departure Country | USA | USA |
| Departure Time | 730 | 733 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | 5KE | 5KE |
| Destination City | Ketchikan | Ketchikan |
| Destination State | AK | AK |
| Destination Country | USA | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 15 2003 1:11PM | May 15 2003 1:11PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- | -- |
| Runway Length | -- | -- |
| Runway Width | -- | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | Yes | Yes |
| Air Medical Flight | No | No |
| Medical Flight | -- | -- |