Incident Overview
Date: Thursday 20 January 1949
Aircraft Type: Douglas C-47A-90-DL (DC-3C)
Owner/operator: Alaska Airlines
Registration Number: NC91006
Location: 43 km NE of Homer, AK –
ÿ United States of America
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 6
Component Affected: Flight AircraftFlight Aircraft
Investigating Agency: CABCAB
Category: Accident
A flight from Homer, Alaska, deviated from its planned route to Kenai, Alaska, due to a pilot decision to proceed off the designated airway. Upon reaching an altitude insufficient to clear the terrain, the flight struck the south side of Ptarmigan Head. The accident occurred at an elevation of 2,800 feet.A flight from Homer, Alaska, deviated from its planned route to Kenai, Alaska, due to a pilot decision to proceed off the designated airway. Upon reaching an altitude insufficient to clear the terrain, the flight struck the south side of Ptarmigan Head. The accident occurred at an elevation of 2,800 feet.
Description
Takeoff was accomplished from Homer at 19:50. Just before takeoff the flight advised Homer Tower that it would proceed to Kenai in accordance with visual flight rules. At 19:57 the flight was advised by Kenai radio that there were no passengers or cargo at Kenai, so the crew decided not to land at Kenai. At 20:05, the flight struck the south side of Ptarmigan Head at an elevation of 2,800 feet, nine miles east of the center line of the airway to Kenai. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the action of the pilot in proceeding off the designated airway at an altitude insufficient to clear the terrain.”
Primary Cause
Pilot action of proceeding off the designated airway at an altitude insufficient to clear the terrain.Pilot action of proceeding off the designated airway at an altitude insufficient to clear the terrain.Share on:
