Crash of a Piper PA-31-310 Navajo B near Haines: 5 killed

The flight was cleared on an IFR flight from Whitehorse to Juneau, via V-428 to Chill intersection, then direct to Juneau. Chill intersection was located on V-428, 36 miles south of Haines NDB on a bearing of 146°. On reaching Haines NDB, the pilot cancelled his IFR clearance and continued under visual flight rules (VFR). Subsequently, the aircraft crashed on a glacier between Haines and Juneau, approximately 15 miles southeast of Haines NDB at an elevation of about 4,500 feet. A pilot, flying about 5 miles southwest of the crash site at the time of the accident, reported a broken to overcast ceiling at 2,500 feet to 3,000 feet msl. The accident site was near the Haines transition of the Barlo 4 departure (sid). In that area, the minimum en route altitude for flight on the Haines transition was 9,000 feet under instrument flight rules.