Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Whittier, Alaska 99693
Saturday, August 19, 2006 10:10 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airline transport certificated pilot was transporting three passengers in a float-equipped airplane through a mountain pass during a Title 14, CFR Part 135, on-demand air taxi flight. When the flight arrived in the area of the pass, the pilot noted that the weather conditions at his location included few clouds at 3,000 feet, and a visibility of seven miles. The weather conditions on the other side of the pass included a ceiling of 2,000 feet, and a visibility of two miles. The pilot had flown through the approximately 2.3 mile-long pass numerous times. He noted haze along the right side of the pass, and proceeded to fly along the left side of the pass, about 1,400 feet msl. He was maintaining visual contact with the ground, but after looking up, his view to the front became all white. He started a right turn to reverse course, but the airplane's floats collided with up sloping terrain on the left side of the pass.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a collision with terrain while maneuvering to reverse direction in a pass. A factor contributing to the accident was clouds in the pass.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 8/19/2006
Event Day of the Week Saturday
Time of Event 1010
Event Time Zone --
Event City Whittier
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99693
Event Date Year 2006
Event Date Month 8
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 604616N
Event Location Longitude 1484424W
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 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 3900
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) 7
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 11
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) 7
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 100
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 12
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 22
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 29.97
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Serious
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 3
Injury Total None --
Injury Total Serious 1
Injury Total All 4
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 21403
NTSB Notification Source FAA Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Aug 19 2006 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time --
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record May 29 2007 12:24PM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\lema
Basic weather conditions Instrument Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office FAA-AL-ANC FSDO 03

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N4975U
NTSB Number ANC06LA119
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed Company VFR
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model U206G
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number U20605179
Certified Max Gross Weight 3744
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 4
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Aug 1 2006 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 35
Airframe Hours 14760
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name Jim Air Inc.
Aircraft Owner Street Address 4200 Floatplane Dr.
Aircraft Owner City Anchorage
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99502
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
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 IUJA
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 No
Departure Airport Code LAHD
Departure City Anchorage
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 920
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code --
Destination City Valdez
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Maneuvering
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Apr 12 2007 9:41PM
User who most recently changed record STAM
Since inspection or accident Time of Accident
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --