Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Barrow, Alaska 99723
Sunday, August 17, 2003 12:56 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The certificated airline transport pilot, with one non-revenue passenger, departed in the twin-engine turboprop airplane from a rural airport on a CFR Part 135, VFR cargo flight over ocean waters. The flight did not reach its destination, and was reported overdue. Search personnel searched along the airplane's anticipated route of flight, over ocean waters. Shortly after initiation of the search, airborne search personnel reported sighting floating debris, consisting of what appeared to be aircraft seats, cardboard boxes, and small portions of aircraft wreckage, about 30.5 miles southwest of the flight's departure airport, and about 10 miles from shore. The airplane is presumed to have sunk in ocean waters estimated to be between 50 and 70 feet deep. Underwater search and recovery efforts were unsuccessful, and the airplane, pilot, and passenger remain missing. A review of archived radar data disclosed that as the accident airplane approached an area about 30.5 miles southwest of the departure airport, it descended to 500 feet msl, and then entered a right turn. As the turn progressed, the airplane continued to descend to 400 feet msl, with a radar-derived ground speed of 180 knots. The last radar return was recorded with the same radar-derived groundspeed, on an approximate heading of 200 degrees. A pilot who is familiar with geographical locations in the area reported that migrating whales are commonly sighted in the area where the radar depicted a descending right turn.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An in-flight collision with ocean waters while maneuvering for an undetermined reason.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/17/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 1256 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Barrow |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99723 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 705857N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1580500W |
| 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 | 1152 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BRW |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 31 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| 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) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 60 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.77 |
| 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 | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 15805 |
| NTSB Notification Source | ANC FAA, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 17 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1415 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jul 29 2004 7:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Fairbanks FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N6591L |
| NTSB Number | ANC03FA096 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Reims Aviation |
| Aircraft Model | 406 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | F406-0053 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 9360 |
| 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 | 10 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 25 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 71.8 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Gussic Ventures LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 7325 Foxridge Circle #1 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Anchorage |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99518 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | HAGELAND AVIATION SERVICES 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 | EPUA |
| 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 |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | BRW |
| Departure City | Barrow |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1249 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | AWI |
| Destination City | Wainwright |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 27 2004 7:38PM |
| User who most recently changed record | PETL |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |