Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Mcgrath, Alaska 99627
Friday, August 27, 2004 16:00 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airline transport certificated pilot was conducting a VFR cross-country business flight, transporting cargo and personnel to a remote airport. The accident airplane was one of two airplanes transporting supplies for a hunting/fishing company, traveling a multi-segment route. The pilot was accompanied by a pilot-rated passenger occupying the right front seat, and a second passenger seated behind the pilot. The pilot obtained a weather briefing from the FAA, which included AIRMETs for mountain obscuration, and IFR conditions due to low ceilings and visibility in smoke, light rain and mist. The pilot said that when he took off on the accident flight, the visibility was 1 to 3 miles in smoke, haze, and fog, but was VFR. He recalled hazy conditions in which he could see rolling hills and river cuts. The pilot-rated passenger was initially flying the airplane. Upon entering lowering visibility, the pilot said he reassumed control of the airplane, and attempted a 180 degree turn to clear the low visibility area, but collided with trees and crashed. The rear seat passenger reported that the accident airplane was flying about 500 to 1,000 feet above the ground because of smoke and fog. He estimated the visibility at takeoff was about 1 mile. About 30 minutes after departure, the airplane was flying over mountainous terrain, and appeared to be following a canyon. The passenger said that the visibility decreased due to fog. He said that the airplane's throw-over control yoke was initially positioned in front of the right seat, pilot-rated passenger, when suddenly a mountain ridge appeared in front of the airplane. The pilot repositioned the control yoke in front of the left seat, banked the airplane to the left, and added engine power. Within a few seconds, the passenger indicated that he felt the airplane collide with several trees and then descend to the ground. The airplane came to rest upright with extensive fuselage damage, about 1,400 feet msl. One wing was torn off the airframe. A postcrash fire consumed the wreckage. A terminal forecast for the airport of departure included few clouds at 500 feet, and visibilities as low as 3 miles in smoke and mist. The destination airport for the accident flight segment had few clouds at 100 feet, and visibilities as low as 2 1/2 miles.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's inadequate in-flight planning/decision making, his continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain obstacle clearance. Factors contributing to the accident were low ceilings due to smoke, rain, and mist.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/27/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 1600 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | McGrath |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99627 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 631020N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1564844W |
| 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 | Partial - limited by pilot |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1553 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 270 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAMC |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 338 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 35 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2700 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 500 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 9 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 6 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.97 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17654 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 27 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2248 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 8 2005 12:51PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N197TT |
| NTSB Number | ANC04LA098 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | Ground |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 197 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 7960 |
| 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 | 11 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | R & J Aircraft Leasing Corp. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 220787 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Anchorage |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99522 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Exousia Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. Box 2157 |
| Operator City | Kenai |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99611 |
| Operator Code | M9UC |
| 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 | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PAMC |
| Departure City | McGrath |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1526 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAOT |
| Destination City | Kotzebue |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |