Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aniak Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Aniak, Alaska 99557
Wednesday, January 16, 2008 12:15 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial certificated pilot was returning from a remote village after a round robin flight of about 130 miles over a frozen and snow-covered river. He was in cruise flight about 500 feet agl, but then circled while holding between 6 or 7 miles east of his destination airport, awaiting a special VFR (SVFR) clearance. The weather condition in that area was about 1 mile visibility, with a ceiling of about 1,000 feet agl. After receiving his SVFR clearance, the pilot flew toward the airport, but the engine fuel pressure began fluctuating. The engine rpm began decreasing, along with the airplane's altitude. The pilot switched fuel tanks, selected full flaps, and prepared for a forced landing. He said the weather was near white-out conditions, but he could see the bank of the river. After switching fuel tanks from the left to the right tank, the engine power suddenly returned to full power. He applied forward flight control pressure to prevent the airplane from climbing too fast, but the airplane collided with the surface of the river. The airplane sustained structural damage to the wings and fuselage. At the time of the accident, the ceiling at the airport was 600 feet obscured, with a visibility of 1/2 mile in snow. Neither the fuel status of the accident airplane, nor the mechanical condition of the engine, were verified by either the NTSB or FAA.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A partial loss of engine power for an undetermined reason. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's inadvertent encounter with IMC conditions, and a whiteout during his attempted go-around from an emergency landing approach.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/16/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1215 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Aniak |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99557 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 613454N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1593230W |
| Event Location Airport | Aniak |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PANI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 1 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 88 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1216 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 260 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PANI |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 88 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 1 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 600 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | -- |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Obscured |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.5 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 0 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.79 |
| 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 | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 1 |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 24070 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jan 16 2008 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 28 2008 3:01PM |
| 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 | N1701U |
| NTSB Number | ANC08LA032 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| 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 | 207 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20700301 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3800 |
| 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 | 6 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Oct 1 2007 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 94 |
| Airframe Hours | 18448 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Inland Holdings Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. Box 244 |
| Aircraft Owner City | Aniak |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99557 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Inland 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 | B7TA |
| 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) | Positioning |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | CJX |
| Departure City | Crooked Creek |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1130 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PANI |
| Destination City | Aniak |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Emergency descent/landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 8 2008 9:01PM |
| User who most recently changed record | STAM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |