Incident Overview
Description
The Cessna 208B was on a mail delivery flight from Bethel (BET) to Hooper Bay (HPB) Scammon Bay (SCM), Alaska. The airplane crash landed on a tundra hill immediately after takeoff. It skidded about 100 yards, leaving a trail of debris, including the plane’s wheels and cargo. The pilot indicated that the airplane was initially climbing with 20 degrees of flaps after departing runway 36. He retracted the flaps half way at 100 knots of airspeed, and then fully retracted the flaps at 110 knots. The pilot said that the airplane then began to roll to the right in a manner he described as a wave, or vortex feeling. He corrected the roll, lowered the nose of the airplane, and it again rolled to the right, which he again corrected. The airplane rolled to the right a third time, and the pilot saw that the airplane was descending to the ground. He attempted to lower the flaps before the airplane collided with the ground. The weather observed at Bethel at 08:53 AST was: clear skies, Temperature:-12F (-24C) Dewpoint: -18F (-28C), Relative Humidity: 73%, Winds from the NW (330 degs) at 12 mph. Pressure: 1006.5 millibars. Altimeter:29.71 inches of mercury. The prevailing visibility was 10 miles. The same aircraft, N5187B, was damaged in December 1999 when it crash-landed during takeoff from Bethel due to icing. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The pilot’s failure to adequately remove frost contamination from the airplane, which resulted in a loss of control and subsequent collision with terrain during an emergency landing after takeoff.”
Primary Cause
Failure to adequately remove frost contamination from the airplane, leading to loss of control and subsequent collision with terrain during an emergency landing.Failure to adequately remove frost contamination from the airplane, leading to loss of control and subsequent collision with terrain during an emergency landing.Share on:
