Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Kotzebue Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Kotzebue, Alaska 99752
Saturday, February 14, 2009 11:02 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The airline transport certificated captain and commercial certificated first officer were on a non-scheduled domestic cargo flight. The captain stated that while en route to the destination airport, the weather at the airport dropped below visual flight rules (VFR) minimums, and he received a special VFR clearance. He said that the local area and runway were covered with snow, but when he turned final he could see the airport beacon and associated buildings. He said about 200 feet above the ground on approach he lost sight of the runway environment, and asked the first officer if he could see anything. When the first officer said no, and reported their altitude at 50 feet agl, the captain said he initiated a go-around, but the airplane impacted the terrain short of the runway. The captain reported that there were no known mechanical problems with the airplane or its instruments prior to the accident. The Director of Operations for the operator said the airplane sustained structural damage to the fuselage near the left main landing gear. An Federal Aviation Administration flight service specialist at the airport said the visibility had been about 1-1/4 miles, but dropped to 1/4-mile rapidly during the time of the approach. Weather observations taken at the airport showed that about 3 minutes before the accident, the visibility was 1 mile in light snow and blowing snow, wind as 160 degrees at 28 knots gusting to 32. About 1 minute before the accident, the visibility was reported as 1/4-mile in light snow and blowing snow, wind from 160 degrees at 33 knots gusting to 36. About 3 minutes after the accident, the visibility remained at 1/4-mile in light snow and blowing snow, and the wind was reported as 170 degrees at 35 knots with gusts to 42.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The flight crew's decision to continue flight into adverse weather. Contributing to the accident was blowing snow which limited their visibility during final approach to land.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/14/2009 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1102 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Kotzebue |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99752 |
| Event Date Year | 2009 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 665305N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1623555W |
| Event Location Airport | Kotzebue |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAQT |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0.5 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 14 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1101 Atlantic Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PAQT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 14 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | AST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 4900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 1000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 0.25 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -3 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -4 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 28 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 32 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.6 |
| 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) | 25279 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA Anchorage, ROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Apr 29 2009 2:32PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Instrument Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N440RA |
| NTSB Number | ANC09LA019 |
| 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 | CONSTRUCCIONES AERONAUTICAS SA |
| Aircraft Model | C-212-CC |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 174 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | -- |
| 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 | 28 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jan 21 2009 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 29161 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C91-A |
| Aircraft Owner Name | ARCTIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 5701 SILVERADO WAY UNIT L |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99518-1657 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ARCTIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 5701 SILVERADO WAY UNIT L |
| Operator City | ANCHORAGE |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99518-1657 |
| Operator Code | UATA |
| 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 | UATA566A |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAIK |
| Departure City | Kiana |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1040 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAQT |
| Destination City | Kotzebue |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Aug 4 2011 1:15PM |
| User who most recently changed record | broda |
| Since inspection or accident | Last Inspection |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | N/A |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |