Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Katmai National Park, Alaska 99549
Saturday, August 21, 2010 14:12 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The commercial pilot departed a remote, oceanside lagoon in a float-equipped airplane with three passengers on an on-demand air taxi flight in reduced visibility and heavy rain. When the airplane did not reach its destination, the operator reported the airplane overdue. Extensive search-and-rescue efforts along the coast and inland failed to find the wreckage.
After the search ended, small portions of the fragmented airplane washed ashore about 28 miles northeast of the departure lagoon. The remainder of wreckage has not been located despite sonar searches of the ocean near where the wreckage was found. A stowed tent and duffle bag, which were reported to be aboard the airplane, were also found ashore near the wreckage location. The tent and duffel bag exhibited evidence of exposure to a high temperature environment, such as a fire. However, there was no evidence indicating that the fire occurred in flight. The lack of soot on the undamaged areas of the items, as well as the very abrupt demarcation line between the damaged portion and the undamaged material, is consistent with these items floating in the water and being exposed to a fuel fire on the surface of the water, rather than having been exposed to a fire in the airplane’s cargo compartment.
Due to the fragmentation of the recovered wreckage, it is likely that the airplane collided with ocean’s surface while in flight; however, because the engine and a majority of the wreckage have not been found, the sequence of events leading to the accident could not be determined.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
Undetermined.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 8/21/2010 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1412 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Katmai National Park |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99549 |
| Event Date Year | 2010 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 585827N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1532550W |
| 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 | 1417 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 160 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PKDT |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 78 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 79 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 2900 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 12 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 10 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 4 |
| 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 | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 4 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 4 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 29605 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA 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 | Feb 8 2012 3:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9313Z |
| NTSB Number | ANC10FA100 |
| 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 | DEHAVILLAND |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-2 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 441 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 5100 |
| 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 | 8 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Apr 19 2010 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 4946 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | HARTLEY INC DBA |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 4540 EDINBURGH DR |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99515 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | Branch River Air Service |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 4540 EDINBURGH DR |
| Operator City | ANCHORAGE |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99515 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| 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 | 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 | -- |
| Departure City | Swikshak River |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1345 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | -- |
| Destination City | King Salmon |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 8 2012 3:41PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| 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 | -- |