Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Anchorage, Alaska 99513
Friday, July 28, 2006 20:37 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The crew of the missing airplane was conducting a local area familiarization flight under Title 14, CFR Part 91. At the time of the flight, visual meteorological conditions prevailed, with occasional moderate turbulence forecast for the area. The airplane was routinely contracted for animal and bird counts, and the flight was to include low level flight simulating such a mission. The three occupants of the airplane were the pilot, company check pilot, and another company pilot riding along as a passenger. Both the pilot and the check pilot held airline transport certificates, and were experienced in the make and model of the accident airplane. The airplane was equipped with a satellite position reporting device that updated position, groundspeed, and altitude every 2 minutes. Radar and GPS track information indicated the accident airplane was flying low and slow along a peninsula coast over a saltwater inlet, and turned toward the center of the inlet. The track stopped about 3 miles offshore. The data indicated that while flying along the inlet, the airplane descended to 112 feet above ground level (water), and climbed as high as 495 feet, which was the airplane's altitude at the last data point. The airplane's groundspeed varied between 97 and 111 knots. The area of the presumed crash site experiences extreme tides and strong currents, with reduced visibility due to a high glacial silt content. An extensive search was conducted, but the airplane and its occupants have not been located. An examination of the airplane's maintenance logs did not disclose any unresolved maintenance issues.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

Undetermined; the airplane and its occupants are missing.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 7/28/2006
Event Day of the Week Friday
Time of Event 2037
Event Time Zone --
Event City Anchorage
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99513
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 7
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 610148N
Event Location Longitude 1503707W
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 --
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1953 Atlantic Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 220
Weather Observation Facility ID PANC
Elevation of weather observation facility 150
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 15
Time Zone of the weather observation ADT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 10000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Clear
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) 16
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 11
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 260
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) 30.08
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 3
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 3
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21253
NTSB Notification Source FAA Anchorage, ROC
NTSB Notification Date Jul 29 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Apr 25 2007 2:54PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Anchorage FSDO-03

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N57096
NTSB Number ANC06FAMS1
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Destroyed
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Aero Commander
Aircraft Model 690A
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 11120
Certified Max Gross Weight 11000
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 7
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection AAIP
Date of Last Inspection Jun 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 44
Airframe Hours 11340
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Commander Northwest
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Wenatchee
Aircraft Owner State WA
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 98807
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? No
Operator Street Address --
Operator City Anchorage
Operator State AK
Operator Country USA
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code CMMA
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) Other Work Use
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PAEN
Departure City Kenai
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time --
Departure Time Zone --
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code PANC
Destination City Anchorage
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Mar 6 2007 11:35AM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Last Inspection
Event Location Runway Number and Location NA
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --