Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Cold Bay, Alaska 99571
Thursday, April 14, 2011 17:55 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The pilot reported that while descending toward his destination, the airplane encountered severe turbulence of short duration. After the turbulence passed, he made an uneventful landing at his destination airport. A postaccident examination of the airplane discovered substantial damage to the stabilator.
The wind at the destination airport was reported as 310 degrees at 9 knots, the area forecast valid at the time of the turbulence encounter forecast no significant turbulence, and there were no pilot reports of turbulence. The pilot indicated that prior to the severe turbulence; there had been no significant turbulence during the flight.
An examination of the stabilator showed that the right half was bent downward 5 to 10 degrees outboard of the fuselage attachments. No evidence of fatigue or corrosion was found.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
An in-flight encounter with unforecast turbulence, which resulted in structural damage to the stabilator.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 4/14/2011 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1755 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | Cold Bay |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99571 |
| Event Date Year | 2011 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 554400N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1625900W |
| 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 | 1753 Atlantic Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 230 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PACD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 102 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 13 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | ADT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 3000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Broken |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 310 |
| 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) | 29.98 |
| 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 | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 28586 |
| 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 | Aug 9 2011 5:28PM |
| User who most recently changed record | andj |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N81052 |
| NTSB Number | ANC11LA027 |
| 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-32-301 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 32-8206023 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | AAIP |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 17 2011 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 14089 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | PENINSULA AIRWAYS INC |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 6100 BOEING AVE |
| Aircraft Owner City | ANCHORAGE |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99502-1000 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | PENINSULA AIRWAYS INC |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | 6100 BOEING AVE |
| Operator City | ANCHORAGE |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 99502-1000 |
| Operator Code | PNSA |
| 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 | PNSA044A |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PAKF |
| Departure City | False Pass |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1745 |
| Departure Time Zone | ADT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PACD |
| Destination City | Cold Bay |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jun 24 2011 1:03PM |
| 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 | -- |