Alaska

The on-demand fishing/hunting charter air carrier pilot experienced a total loss of power and landed in a small lake. During the ground run following the emergency landing a oil-fed fire destroyed the aircraft. Investigators found inadequate flight following documentation, and fuel records or maintenance records for accident acft or operation. Passenger witnesses reported low fuel gauges prior to takeoff. Fuel pump examination indicated fuel starvation.

The business flight departed Lavrentya, Russia with what the pilot-in-command estimated to be 50 gallons of usable fuel on board the airplane and landed in Provideniya, Russia around 40 minutes later with about 30 gallons of fuel remaining. The plane took on an additional 30 gallons of fuel. The pilot said that he normally departed Provideniya with 120 gallons of fuel but that there was no additional fuel available. The flight departed Provideniya with what the pilot estimated to be 1 hour and 45 minutes of fuel endurance and landed in Gamble, Alaska on St Lawrence Island approximately 25 minutes later. The pilot did not dip stick the fuel tanks to verify the amount of fuel on board. The pilot did not check on the availability of fuel in Gamble. The right and left engines lost power approximately 40 minutes and 50 minutes, respectively after departing gamble. The airplane did not carry personal flotation devices for the passengers.

On August 2, 1993, at 1500 Alaska daylight time, an amphibious Cessna 208 airplane, N9526F, operated by MarkAir, Inc., nosed over after landing on the water with the wheels extended at Geographic Harbor, located about 75 miles west of Kodiak, Alaska. The commercial pilot, the sole occupant, sustained minor injuries, and the airplane was substantially damaged. The unscheduled domestic cargo flight, operating under 14 CFR Part 135, departed King Salmon, Alaska at 1426. Visual meteorological conditions existed, and a company VFR flight plan was filed.
During a telephone conversation with the pilot shortly after the accident, he stated that he "just failed to use and comply with the airplanes checklist to ensure that the wheels were retracted for the water landing". He further stated that he was very distracted and preoccupied with several other mission related activities.

The pilot reported that while in cruise flight looking at birds out the left side cockpit window he observed peripherally a 'white flash' fill the right side of the forward wind screen followed immediately by an audible 'thump'. The airplane began an uncontrollable descent and yaw to the right. The engine continued to run smoothly. Advancing the engine power controls had no noticeable effect on his ability to arrest the descent. The NTSB investigator in charge visited the accident site. No evidence was found of a bird strike. The accident site was surrounded by tall (white) birch trees. The pilot stated that he was not sure what he struck and that it could have been a tree.

Pireps provided to the pilot by FSS prior to takeoff indicated that fog and low visibility had been encountered on the pilot's route to the east, forcing airplanes to return to Nome. In addition, as the flight taxied for takeoff, the pilot was told '... VFR is not recommended to the east...'. The airplane impacted flat snow covered terrain in a steep left wing down attitude approximately 4 miles east of the departure end of the runway. The area was a treeless, snow covered flat coastal plain bordered by a sea frozen with white ice. The pilot had returned to work 4/1 after a 30-day suspension following a takeoff accident, and was assigned only to Cessna 207 'VFR only' airplanes. The poi did not discuss the earlier accident or the pilot with the operator's management.

The airplane was removed from a hangar about one hour before departure. During the interim period, the ambient temperature was about 32° F and it was snowing lightly. No deicing fluid was used on the airplane. The pilot reported observing only water on the plane's wings. The passenger (a rated pilot) reported to an alaska state trooper that the airplane had accumulated a little ice before the flight departed. The airplane became airborne about 1,000 feet from the end of the 5,576 feet long runway. Shortly after rotation, the airplane began to buffet and would not climb. The airplane impacted in a near horizontal attitude on level snow covered tundra. The pilot reported that immediately after exiting the airplane, he observed a coarse layer of ice on the aft two thirds of the wings. During the test run of both engines, no problems were noted that would have caused and/or contributed toward the inability of the airplane to sustain flight.

After making a refueling stop, the pilot took off at night and was cruising at FL200. After about 30 minutes of flight, the right engine fuel filter bypass warning light illuminated. About 2 minutes later, the same warning light for the left engine illuminated. Soon thereafter the right engine, then the left engine, lost power. The pilot made a forced landing on a moving ice pack in the Bering sea, which resulted in substantial damage. Ice was found in the engine and main fuel screens. Significant amounts of water and/or ice were found in 3 tanks, which had been refueled before takeoff. A higher than normal amount of water was also found in the fuel sample taken from the nozzle of the refueling tanker. The flight manual required that an approved ice inhibitor be added to the fuel, if not premixed. Fuel at the refueling stop was not premixed and the pilot had no icing inhibitor (prist) with him on this flight. He did not drain fuel from the tanks during preflight, since the temperature was so cold he feared the drain might freeze open.

The crew started the descent to Juneau Airport in poor weather conditions. At an altitude of 2,600 feet, while cruising in clouds, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located in the Chilkat Mountain Range, about 38 miles northwest of Juneau Airport. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all eight occupants were killed among them General Thomas C. Carroll, second Chief of Staff of the USAF in Alaska.
Crew:
Col Thomas Clark, pilot,
Cwo John Pospisil, copilot.
Passengers:
Sfc Richard E. Brink,
Gen Thomas C. Carroll,
Mg Kenneth W. Himsel,
Sgm Llewellyn A. Kahklen,
Sgt Michael J. Schmidt,
Col Wilfred E. Wood.

The airplane was on a VFR flight from Kotzebue to Noorvik, Kiana, Selawik, and return to Kotzebue. The flight had overflown Kiana due to unplowed runway conditions, and was proceeding to Selawik when it crashed into Shelly mountain. According to the rescue personnel, the mountain tops in the area of the accident were obscured by snow, fog and clouds. The terrain was covered with snow. The pilot had a previous accident involving whiteout conditions where he flew into rising terrain. All three occupants were killed.

This was 1 of 2 company airplanes that had landed on a beach to pick up hunters for a return trip to Seward. The other airplane, a Cessna 206, was flown by the company chief pilot. The witnesses in the Cessna 206 said that the accident airplane took off 5 minutes before their Cessna 206 and 'disappeared into the weather and was never seen again.' They described the weather at the bay and along the route to Seward to be 400- 600 feet ceilings and visibility approximately one mile in fog. The wreckage was located 6 miles west of the takeoff point at an elevation of 1,000 feet in mountainous terrain. Both occupants were killed.