Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

White Mountain, Alaska 99784
Tuesady, March 11, 2008 10:50 AKD

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The airline transport pilot was in cruise flight at 2,500 feet msl over snow-covered mountainous terrain. He said the weather conditions were reported as having a ceiling of about 3,000 feet, and a visibility of 10 miles. The route crossed an area of low hills, and the pilot said the visibility began to deteriorate. He descended to about 2,000 feet msl, and suddenly flew into whiteout conditions. The airplane collided with a mountain ridge and overturned. The airplane received structural damage to the wings, landing gear, and fuselage.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The pilot's continued VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident were whiteout conditions, and snow-covered terrain.

Event Information

Type of Event Accident
Event Date 3/11/2008
Event Day of the Week Tuesday
Time of Event 1050
Event Time Zone --
Event City White Mountain
Event State ALASKA
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 99784
Event Date Year 2008
Event Date Month 3
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude 644235N
Event Location Longitude 1624546W
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 3000
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height --
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions --
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Indefinite (V V)
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 5
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) --
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) --
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) --
Variable Wind Indicator --
Wind Speed (knots) --
Wind Velocity Indicator Calm
Wind Gust Indicator Not Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) --
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) --
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury Minor
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor 2
Injury Total None 1
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All 2
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 24072
NTSB Notification Source FAA Regional Operations Center
NTSB Notification Date Mar 11 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-FAI-FSDO 01

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N66036
NTSB Number ANC08LA042
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 91: General Aviation
Type of Flight Plan filed None
Flight plan Was Activated? --
Damage Substantial
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Cessna
Aircraft Model 180
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number 1805298
Certified Max Gross Weight 3190
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 3
Number of Engines 1
Fixed gear or retractable gear Fixed
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection Annual
Date of Last Inspection Sep 1 2007 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 50
Airframe Hours 2980
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated Yes
ELT Aided Location of Event Site Yes
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name C. Kenneth Moon
Aircraft Owner Street Address --
Aircraft Owner City Anchorage
Aircraft Owner State AK
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 99509
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 --
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) Personal
Second Pilot on Board No
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code PAKK
Departure City Koyuk
Departure State AK
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1020
Departure Time Zone ADT
Destination Same as Local Flt crash at destination city
Destination Airport Code WMO
Destination City White Mountain
Destination State AK
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? --
Evacuation occurred --
Date of most recent change to record Aug 8 2008 8:14PM
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 --