Yakutat

The purpose of the flight was to transport three passengers and cargo. The pilot reported that, during takeoff, the airplane’s tail came up slightly lowered to the runway when he attempted to raise the tail by applying forward elevator. He stated that he thought this was unusual and attributed it to an aft-loaded airplane. He applied additional nose-down trim and departed without incident. While en route, the tail of the airplane seemed to move up and down, which the pilot attributed to turbulence. Upon arrival at his destination, the pilot entered a left downwind, reduced the power and extended the flaps to 10° abeam the end of the runway. He turned onto the base leg about ½ mile from the approach end of the runway and slowed the airplane to 80 mph. Turning final, he noticed the airplane seemed to pitch up, so he applied full nose-down pitch trim and extended the flaps an additional 10°. On short final he applied full flaps, and the airplane abruptly pitched up to about a 45° angle. He stated that he applied full nose-down elevator, verified the pitch trim, and reduced the power to idle. When the airplane was about 300 ft above ground level, the airplane stalled, the left wing dropped slightly, and the airplane entered about a 45° nose-down dive. After allowing the airplane to gain airspeed, the pilot applied full back elevator. The airplane impacted forested terrain near the approach end of runway 23 at an elevation of about 18 ft. A postaccident examination of the airframe and engine revealed no evidence of preaccident mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation. Elevator and rudder control continuity was confirmed from the cockpit to the respective control surfaces. The airplane's estimated gross weight at the time of the accident was about 7,796 lbs and the airplane's estimated center of gravity was about 3.2 to 5.6 inches beyond the approved aft limit. Maximum gross weight for the airplane is 8,000 lbs.

The crash occurred at the 1,100 foot level of a mountainside while the airplane was flying a course roughly parallel to the mountain range. Marginal weather conditions were reported for the area. The pilot's 22-year-old son stated that in those type weather conditions his father would routinely climb up into the soup. Set a loran course for home, and sit back and relax. When close to home he would descend to vfr conditions over the flat coastal area and land. The pilot, sole on board, was killed.

The airplane became missing while on an IFR flight in instrument conditions from Yakutat, Alaska to Anchorage, Alaska. There was not further radio communication with the airplane after the pilot reported level at his assigned altitude of 12,000 feet msl. After listening to FAA air traffic control tapes of communications with the pilot, his wife stated that several minutes after the point which the FAA said was the last transmission from the pilot, she heard her husband say something about '6,000' and 'icing conditions'. An enhancement examination of the tapes by the FBI laboratory failed to confirm this information. Aircraft damage and occupant injuries are presumed.

Shortly after takeoff from Yakutat Airport, while climbing to a height of 50 feet, one of the engine caught fire. The captain elected to return for an emergency landing when he lost control of the airplane that crashed in flames in a wooded area located 2,5 miles from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all four crew members were killed.

En route from Juneau to Anchorage, while cruising in marginal weather conditions, the pilot reported engine problems when contact was lost. The airplane entered a spin and crashed into the ocean off Yakutat. Few debris and two dead bodies were found. The aircraft sank and was lost.

Alaska Airlines, Flight 1866 (AS66) was a scheduled passenger flight from Anchorage (ANC), to Seattle (SEA), with intermediate stops at Cordova (CDV), Yakutat (YAK), Juneau (JNU), and Sitka (SIT). The IFR flight departed Anchorage at 09:13 and landed at Cordova at 09:42. AS66 departed Cordova at 10:34 after a delay, part of which was attributable to difficulty in securing a cargo compartment door. The flight landed at Yakutat at 11:07. While on the ground, AS66 received an air traffic control clearance to the Juneau Airport via Jet Route 507 to the Pleasant Intersection, direct to Juneau, to maintain 9,000 feet or below until 15 miles southeast of Yakutat on course, then to climb to and maintain FL230. The flight departed Yakutat at 11:35, with 104 passengers and seven crew members on board. At 11:46, AS66 contacted the Anchorage ARTCC and reported level at FL230, 65 miles east of Yakutat. The flight was then cleared to descend at the pilot's discretion to maintain 10,000 ft so as to cross the Pleasant Intersection at 10,000 feet and was issued a clearance limit to the Howard Intersection. The clearance was acknowledged correctly by the captain and the controller provided the Juneau altimeter setting of 29.46 inches and requested AS66 to report leaving 11,000 ft. At 11:51, AS66 reported leaving FL230. Following this report, the flight's clearance limit was changed to the Pleasant Intersection. At 11:54, the controller instructed AS66 to maintain 12,000 feet. Approximately 1 minute later, the flight reported level at 12,000 feet. The changes to the flight's original clearance to the Howard Intersection were explained to AS66 by the controller as follows: "I've got an airplane that's not following his clearance, I've got to find out where he is." The controller was referring to N799Y, a Piper Apache which had departed Juneau at 11:44 on an IFR clearance, destination Whitehorse, Canada. On two separate occasions, AS66 acted as communications relay between the controller and N799Y. At 11:58, AS66 reported that they were at the Pleasant Intersection, entering the holding pattern, whereupon the controller recleared the flight to Howard Intersection via the Juneau localizer. In response to the controller's query as to whether the flight was "on top" at 12,000 feet, the captain stated that the flight was "on instruments." At 12:00, the controller repeated the flight's clearance to hold at Howard Intersection and issued an expected approach time of 12:10. At 12:01, AS66 reported that they were at Howard, holding 12,000 feet. Six minutes later, AS66 was queried with respect to the flight's direction of holding and its position in the holding pattern. When the controller was advised that the flight had just completed its inbound turn and was on the localizer, inbound to Howard, he cleared AS66 for a straight-in LDA approach, to cross Howard at or below 9,000 feet inbound. The captain acknowledged the clearance and reported leaving 12,000 feet. At 12:08 the captain reported "leaving five thousand five ... four thousand five hundred," whereupon the controller instructed AS66 to contact Juneau Tower. Contact with the tower was established shortly thereafter when the captain reported, "Alaska sixty-six Barlow inbound." (Barlow Intersection is located about 10 nautical miles west of the Juneau Airport). The Juneau Tower Controller responded, "Alaska 66, understand, ah, I didn't, ah, copy the intersection, landing runway 08, the wind 080° at 22 occasional gusts to 28, the altimeter now 29.47, time is 09 1/2, call us by Barlow". No further communication was heard from the flight. The Boeing 727 impacted the easterly slope of a canyon in the Chilkat Range of the Tongass National Forest at the 2475-foot level. The aircraft disintegrated on impact. The accident was no survivable.

Crashed on landing at Yakutat Airport in poor weather conditions. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

At approximately 2226, November 3, 1948. the flight departed Anchorage for Seattle, Washington, via Homer, Yakutat, and Annette Island, Alaska, with a crew consisting of A R. Kinnear, pilot, and R A Wilson, copilot. The flight arrived at Yakutat, Alaska, at 0257, November 4, 1948, without incident. At Yakutat an instrument flight plan was filed specifying a cruising altitude of 10,000 feet to Annette Island, the next intended stop. At 0407, the flight took off from Yakutat with the same crew, 15 passengers, 800 gallons of fuel, and no cargo. Total airplane weight was within the certified limit and the airplane was properly loaded. A position report was received from the flight by Gustavus Radio at 0510 to the effect that the flight was cruising at 10,000 feet, 146 miles southeast of Yakutat, and that it estimated arriving over Sitka, Alaska, 240 miles southeast of Yakutat, at 0544. This was the last communication received from the flight. Approximately one hour after the flight's estimated arrival time over Sitka, an emergency warning was issued by CAA Communications to all radio stations between Anchorage and Seattle. Also alerted was the Civil Aeronautics Board, the 10th Air and Sea Rescue Squadron, and the Coast Guard Air Facility. At 0700 the Coast Guard dispatched a search plane to the area over which the flight had last reported, but no trace of the airplane or its occupants was found.

The flight departed from Anchorage at 0020, November 27, 1947, carrying 11 revenue passengers and 600 gallons of fuel. At 0238 the flight reported that it was over Yakataga, Alaska, at 6,000 feet, and that it was proceeding in accordance with instrument flight rules to Yakutat, estimating arrival there at 0320. Twenty-eight minutes later at 0306 the flight called Yakutat Radio, stating that it was leaving the 6,000-foot altitude and making an approach "straight in." The CAA communicator acknowledged and transmitted the Yakutat weather "Indefinite ceiling, 500-foot overcast visibility 3 miles, light drizzle, temperature and dew point 43 degrees, wind from the east-southeast at 10 miles per hour, altimeter setting 30.17." Yakutat Radio again called the flight at approximately 0316, requesting that it report the height of the ceiling when it descended into the clear. This was acknowledged by, "Okay Yakutat." No further communication was received from the flight. Shortly after the last transmission the airplane was heard to fly at a low altitude over a residence which was located approximately 300 feet south of the CAA Yakutat Radio station, and seconds later the occupants in the residence heard an explosion.

The crew was performing a training exercise over the region of Yakutat. While cruising in poor weather conditions (IFR flight), the twin engine seaplane hit tree tops and crashed in a wooded area located near the Bering Glacier. A crew member was killed on impact while a second one died few days later. Rescuers arrived on scene 11 days later and were able to evacuate all five other crew members.