Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Platinum Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Platinum, Alaska 99678
Tuesady, January 4, 2011 15:30 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that he used the airplane’s radio to activate the runway lights, and flew over the airport and saw the windsock, but did not see the runway lights. He said the landing roll was smooth until the airplane came to a sudden stop when it struck a berm. The airplane received substantial damage to the left wing and fuselage. The airport manager said several people told him they saw the airplane fly over the field, lineup with the old (closed) runway, and land. The manager said the airport's newest runway, operational for about 2 years, is lighted, and that the end of the old runway had been incorporated into a parallel taxiway for the new runway. The rest of the old runway had been plowed up, and marked with a red "X". He said on the day of the accident the old runway was covered with snow. He stated that the lighted runway had about 1 inch of snow on it, and that the lights were on the highest intensity setting. He said the visibility was 10 miles under a 1,000 foot overcast, and the wind was calm. The airport manager said the airplane struck a ditch/berm where a portion of the old runway had been changed to an elevated taxiway for the new runway. The passenger seated on the left side of the airplane behind the pilot said she was familiar with the airport, and saw the lights of the lighted runway as they flew over.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's misidentification of the airport's active runway, resulting in an off-runway landing and collision with a ditch/berm.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 1/4/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Tuesday |
| Time of Event | 1530 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Platinum |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99678 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 1 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 590041N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1614910W |
| Event Location Airport | Platinum |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PAPM |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 15 |
| 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 | 1000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Thin Broken |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Unknown |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -- |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | -- |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Variable |
| Wind Speed (knots) | -- |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Light and Variable |
| 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 | 3 |
| Injury Total None | 2 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 3 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28133 |
| 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 | May 25 2011 2:47PM |
| User who most recently changed record | johb |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9304K |
| NTSB Number | ANC11LA008 |
| 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 | PIPER |
| Aircraft Model | PA-32-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-7640076 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 3400 |
| 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 | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | Unknown |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CARLOS GARY N |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | TOGIAK |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99678 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | ALASKA ISLAND AIR INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | Togiak |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99678 |
| Operator Code | K1IC |
| 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 | K1IC780J |
| 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 | GNU |
| Departure City | Good News |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | crash at destination city |
| Destination Airport Code | PAPM |
| Destination City | Platinum |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 28 2011 6:40PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 32 |
| Runway Length | 3300 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |