Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Sitka, Alaska 99835
Monday, September 20, 2004 11:15 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial certificated pilot, with four passengers, departed for a remote lodge on an on-demand air taxi flight in an amphibious float-equipped airplane. The airplane was the second of two company airplanes to depart for the lodge. The route of flight would have transited around the north end, from the west side to the east side of a large island. The first company airplane completed the flight, but the accident airplane did not arrive at the lodge, and was reported overdue. Throughout the morning, before the accident flight, the pilot received two telephonic weather briefings from the local FAA flight service station, which included an AIRMET for mountain obscuration, and two pilot reports from the first pilot. In addition, the pilot visited the FSS for another weather briefing. The weather conditions along the route of flight had reported visibilities as low as 2 miles, and ceilings as low as 200 feet due to rain and mist, and wind of 35 to 40 knots. The area of the accident flight is characterized by steep mountainous island terrain, numerous ocean channels, and an extensive shoreline, containing small coves and bays. The area frequently has low ceilings and reduced visibility due to rain, fog, and mist. The island is one of several barrier islands between the north Pacific Ocean and mainland Alaska. The western coastal portion of the island is exposed to open ocean. The eastern coastal portion of the island is adjacent to a wide strait, which separates the island from several inner islands. The area of operations for the accident airplane has no low-level radar coverage, intermittent radio communications, and limited weather reporting capability. The company's operations manual states that aircraft may not be released for a flight at any location unless there is agreement about the parameters of the flight with the pilot-in-command, and any of the following: Director of operations; chief pilot; or trained individuals granted the authority by the director of operations. The airplane has been declared missing, and is presumed to have crashed; the occupants are presumed to have received fatal injuries.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Reason for occurrence is undetermined. The airplane is missing.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/20/2004 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1115 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Sitka |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99835 |
| Event Date Year | 2004 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | -- |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | -- |
| Event Location Latitude | 570250N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1352142W |
| 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 | Witness |
| 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 | 200 |
| 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) | 2 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 13 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 11 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 140 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 35 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 40 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Light |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 5 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 5 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 17653 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 20 2004 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1353 |
| 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 | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | FAA-AL-JNU FSDO 05 |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N712TS |
| NTSB Number | ANC04FAMS2 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | Y |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | -- |
| Aircraft Explosion | -- |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 948 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5000 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 1 2004 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 20 |
| Airframe Hours | 16155 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Seair Adventures LLC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 1105 |
| Aircraft Owner City | East Sound |
| Aircraft Owner State | WA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 98245 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Harris Aircraft Services Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 400 Airport Rd. |
| Operator City | Sitka |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99835 |
| Operator Code | H0VC |
| 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 | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | PASI |
| Departure City | Sitka |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1036 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | BNF |
| Destination City | Baranof |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Unknown |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | -- |
| User who most recently changed record | -- |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |