Weather Was IMC When Wreckage Was Found, ELT Antenna Cable Had Separated

The preliminary report on the Alaska accident which fatally injured former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens and 4 others has been released by the NTSB. The board confirms that weather was pretty awful on the mountain when rescuers reached the crash site, about six hours after the plane went down, but that reports from Dillingham at the time of the accident were marginal VFR. The report also says the plane's ELT had come loose from its bracket, and the antenna cable was separated.

NTSB Identification: ANC10MA068
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Monday, August 09, 2010 in Aleknagik, AK
Aircraft: DEHAVILLAND DHC-3, registration: N455A
Injuries: 5 Fatal, 4 Serious.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On August 9, 2010, about 1445 Alaska daylight time (ADT), a single engine, turbine-powered, amphibious float-equipped de Havilland DHC-3T (Otter) airplane, N455A, sustained substantial damage when it impacted mountainous tree-covered terrain, about 10 miles northeast of Aleknagik, Alaska. The airplane was registered to and operated by General Communication Corporation (GCI), Anchorage, Alaska, and the flight was being conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 when the accident occurred. Of the nine people aboard, the airline transport pilot and four passengers died at the scene, and four passengers sustained serious injuries. At the time of the accident, marginal visual meteorological conditions were reported at the Dillingham Airport, about 18 miles south of the accident site. The weather conditions at the accident site at that time are not known; however, searchers encountered instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) when they arrived at the accident site almost 6 hours later. The flight originated from a GCI-owned remote fishing lodge on the southwest shoreline of Lake Nerka, about 1430 ADT. The flight was en route to a remote sport fishing camp on the banks of the Nushagak River, about 52 miles southeast of the GCI lodge. No flight plan was filed.

NTSB Map

According to a GCI representative, before the airplane departed GCI’s lodge, the accident pilot telephoned personnel at the sport fishing camp to tell them that the airplane would be en route to the camp, with an anticipated arrival time between 1430 and 1500 ADT. The GCI representative stated that after the airplane departed the lodge about 1430 ADT, no further communications were received from the pilot.

About 1815 ADT, GCI's lodge manager contacted personnel at the sports fishing camp to inquire about the airplane's proposed return time, and to ask if the guests had any dinner requests upon their return. The fishing camp personnel told the GCI lodge manager that the airplane had not arrived, and that they assumed that the pilot had chosen a different fishing destination. The GCI lodge manager then initiated a phone and radio search to see if the airplane had diverted to Dillingham, Alaska or if it was en route back to the GCI lodge. Unable to locate the airplane, GCI lodge personnel initiated an aerial search along the pilot's anticipated route. Additional search airplanes and helicopters in the area voluntarily joined the search for the missing airplane. The airplane was officially reported overdue to the Federal Aviation Administration at 1859 ADT.

DHC-3T NTSB Photo

About 2005 ADT, volunteer airborne search personnel located the wreckage along the anticipated flight route, about 900 feet above mean sea level in the Muklung Hills, in steep, heavily wooded terrain, about 19 miles southeast of the GCI lodge. A team of volunteer search members reached the accident site by helicopter and confirmed that the pilot and four passengers died at the scene, and four passengers sustained serious injuries.

Because poor weather and dark night conditions prohibited additional rescue personnel from reaching the accident site until the next morning, the four seriously injured passengers and their rescuers remained at the accident site overnight. The following morning, a U.S. Coast Guard HH-60J helicopter from Air Station Kodiak, and a HH-60G helicopter from the Air National Guard's 210th Air Rescue Squadron, Anchorage, evacuated all personnel from the accident site.

Accident Site NTSB Photo

The closest weather reporting facility was the Dillingham Airport, about 18 miles south of the accident site. At 1455 ADT, about 10 minutes after the presumed time of the accident, the Dillingham weather observation reported, in part: wind, 180° (true) at 12 knots, gusting to 23 knots; visibility, 3 statute miles with light rain and mist; clouds and sky condition, 600 feet scattered, 1,000 feet overcast; temperature, 52° Fahrenheit (F); dew point, 48° F; altimeter, 29.58 inches of Mercury.

No emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal was detected during the aerial search. (The accident airplane was equipped with an Artex ME406 ELT. Examination of the wreckage revealed that the ELT had separated from its mounting bracket during impact, and the antenna cable was found separated from the ELT.)

FMI: www.ntsb.gov