Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Hoonah, Alaska 99829
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 10:40 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot departed on a VFR commuter flight when about 10 minutes after takeoff the aft cargo door opened. The door, which is hinged to open in a rearward direction, struck the right side of the fuselage, producing structural damage to the fuselage and door. The flight continued to its destination and landed without incident. No cargo or mail was lost during the event. According to the airplane's information manual, the forward cargo door is opened first. The aft door can then be opened by grasping the red handle on the forward edge of the door, and pulling downward to release its locking pawls. The cargo doors may be locked from the inside or outside, and the airplane manual states that "Both doors must be securely closed and the forward door locked prior to flight..." During a telephone conversation with the NTSB Investigator-In-Charge, the director of maintenance for the operator reported that during his postaccident inspection of the airplane, he did not detect any malfunction of the cargo door latch mechanism.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's failure to ensure that the aft cargo door was properly latched and locked prior to departure, which resulted in an in-flight opening of the aft cargo door and subsequent damage to the airplane.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 12/31/2008 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 1040 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Hoonah |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99829 |
| Event Date Year | 2008 |
| Event Date Month | 12 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 581040N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1351532W |
| 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 | 956 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 203 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAOH |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 19 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 7 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -7 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -15 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 120 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 9 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.68 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 25276 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Regional Operations Center |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2009 3:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N39AK |
| NTSB Number | ANC09LA017 |
| 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 | 207A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 20700597 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 1 2008 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 53 |
| Airframe Hours | 26106 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Wings Airline Services Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 8421 Livingston Way |
| Aircraft Owner City | Juneau |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99801 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Alaska Juneau Aeronautics Inc. |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 8421 Livingston Way |
| Operator City | Juneau |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99801 |
| Operator Code | AJAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | 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 | PAJN |
| Departure City | Juneau |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1029 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PAOH |
| Destination City | Hoonah |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 24 2009 3:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |