ANC01FA033

A Douglas DC-3 airplane departed an island runway during dark night, VFR conditions without filing a flight plan. The airplane collided with a volcanic mountain at 1,500 feet msl on the runway heading, 4.5 miles from the airport. Earlier in the day, the airplane arrived from Anchorage, Alaska, without a flight plan, having flown along the Alaska Peninsula when VFR flight was not recommended. The crew of the airplane initially planned to remain overnight on the peninsula, but the captain received a request to transport cargo to Anchorage. The airplane was loaded with cargo and fuel, and departed. The crew did not file a flight plan. The end of the departure runway is positioned at the edge of an ocean bay. Beyond the end of the runway, open water and rising volcanic island terrain are present. In the area of intended flight, no illumination of the terrain, or any ground based lighting was present. An obstacle departure procedure for the departure runway recommends a right turn at 2 DME from the runway heading, and then a climb to 7,000 feet. Forty-five minutes after departure, a fire was spotted on the side of a volcano cone, and an ELT signal was detected in the area. No company flight following procedures were found for the accident flight, and the airplane was not reported overdue until the following day. The day after the accident, the airplane wreckage was located on steep, snow-covered terrain. Due to high winds and blowing snow, a rescue team could not get to the accident site until three days after the crash. The captain was the president, the director of operations, and the sole corporate entity of the company. No current maintenance records, flight logs, or pilot logs were located for the company. In the past, the captain's pilot certificate was suspended for 45 days following an accident in a DC-3 airplane when he ran out of gas. Also, the captain's medical certificate had previously been considered for denial after serving 49 months in federal prison for cocaine distribution, but after review, the FAA issued the captain a first class medical. FAA medical records for the captain do not contain any record of monitoring for substance abuse. The first officer's medical had also been considered for denial after an episode of a loss of consciousness. After a lengthy review and an appeal to the NTSB, the FAA issued the first officer a second-class medical. The first officer was part of the flight crew when the captain ran out of gas, and she had two previous aviation accidents. A toxicological examination of the captain, conducted by the FAA, found cocaine and metabolites of cocaine. A toxicological examination of the first officer found two different prescription antidepressant drugs. The FAA prohibits narcotic and mood-altering drug use by pilots.

History of flight

On January 23, 2001, about 2135 Alaska standard time, a Douglas DC-3 airplane, N19454, was destroyed by impact and postimpact fire after colliding with mountainous terrain, about 4.5 miles northwest of Unalaska, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR), nonscheduled domestic cargo flight, under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Galaxy Air Cargo Inc., doing business as Majestic Air Cargo, Anchorage, Alaska. The captain and the first officer, both airline transport certificated pilots, received fatal injuries. Dark night, visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A flight plan was not filed. The flight originated at the Unalaska Airport, about 2130.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported that the crew of the accident airplane telephoned the Kenai Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) on January 23, at 0807, requesting a weather briefing from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, Alaska (Unalaska), and indicated the flight anticipated departing Anchorage about 1200, under VFR or instrument flight rules (IFR). The flight service station specialist provided a briefing in which VFR was not recommended due to AIRMETS for IFR conditions, and mountain obscuration along the entire route, conditions that were prevalent on either the Pacific or Bering Sea sides of the Alaska peninsula. The briefing also included low level turbulence, occasional moderate rime icing, wind conditions up to 51 knots, with light rain and snow at Cold Bay, Alaska, and wind conditions up to 28 knots, with light rain and mist at Dutch Harbor.

At 0957, the crew telephoned the Kenai AFSS and requested a weather briefing from Anchorage, to Dutch Harbor, via Kenai, Alaska, King Salmon, Alaska, and Cold Bay, again indicated a probable 1200 departure. The specialist indicated the Anchorage weather conditions as wind, 200 degrees at 8 knots, visibility 1 3/4 mile in light snow and mist, few clouds at 500 feet, ceiling 900 feet overcast. The flight service station specialist provided weather conditions for Kenai, Iliamna, Alaska, King Salmon, Cold Bay, and Dutch Harbor, all of which had VFR conditions.

The accident airplane departed Anchorage on a VFR flight, but not on a flight plan. The crew of the airplane contacted the Kenai AFSS by radio at 1312, and requested weather information for Kenai, King Salmon, Cold Bay, and Dutch Harbor. The flight service station specialist provided weather data that included AIRMETs along the route of flight for mountain obscuration, turbulence, icing, and low level wind shear. The specialist indicated the weather conditions at Cold Bay were winds of 32 knots with gusts to 40 knots, visibility of 2 1/2 miles in light rain, snow and fog, ceiling 1,400 feet overcast. Dutch Harbor weather included winds to 21 knots in light showers.

The crew of the accident airplane contacted the Kenai AFSS by radio at 1407, 1527, and 1607, for updates on weather conditions at King Salmon, Cold Bay, and Dutch Harbor.

At 1745, the crew contacted the Cold Bay FSS for a weather update at Dutch Harbor. The FSS specialist indicated the wind was 200 degrees at 11 knots, visibility was 5 miles, scattered clouds at 100 feet, broken clouds at 1,200 feet, overcast at 1,600 feet, altimeter of 28.80 inHg. The remarks included light snow and mist, with visibility and ceilings lower from the northeast though southeast. The crew commented that the airplane was abeam Cold Bay at 10,500 feet, with good weather conditions, having passed a low pressure area near Port Heiden, Alaska, and said their anticipated arrival at Unalaska was going to be near dark.

At 1750, the crew contacted the Cold Bay FSS and requested that the specialist telephone Peninsula Airways at the Unalaska Airport for fuel, with an anticipated arrival time of one hour and ten minutes.

Investigation by the Unalaska Department of Public Safety (DPS) determined that the accident airplane arrived at the airport on January 23, about 1915. The crew of the airplane initially planned to remain overnight, but the captain received a request to transport about 2,500 pounds of cargo from Unalaska to Anchorage. The airplane was loaded with cargo and fueled with 464 gallons of 100/130 octane fuel. The loading agent recalled hearing the airplane engines start about 2120. The airplane departed Unalaska without filing a flight plan.

The U.S. Coast Guard received an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) signal in the Unalaska area about 2300. A search helicopter was unable to reach the area of the signal due to low clouds.

On January 24, Unalaska personnel continued to search for the location of the ELT signal on the island of Unalaska. About 1300, the wreckage of an airplane was spotted on a 309 degree magnetic bearing from the airport, about 1,500 feet msl, on the side of a volcanic cinder cone at Eider Point. At 1418, a Coast Guard helicopter spotted the wreckage of a large silver-colored airplane resting on the side of snow-covered terrain, but was unable to land due to the steepness of the terrain. Also on January 24, a witness telephoned the Unalaska DPS to report having seen a fire on the side of the cinder cone, about 2145 on January 23. At the time the witness called, the airplane had not yet been reported overdue.

A crewman aboard a vessel anchored in Unalaska Bay, telephoned the Unalaska DPS on January 24, and reported he saw the accident airplane depart from the airport on the night of the 23, and fly over the bay. He said he thought the starboard engine was producing blue spark or flash. He said he did not see the entire departure, and was unaware the airplane had crashed until news of the accident became known.

On January 24, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) was notified by the FAA that the accident airplane was officially reported overdue at 1448 by a friend of the captain.

High winds and blowing snow prevented search and rescue personnel from reaching the accident site until January 26, 2001. By that time, the tail section of the airplane had separated from the crash scene, and slid downhill, coming to rest about 500 feet msl.

Personnel information

Captain

The captain was the president and the director of operations for the company. He held an airline transport pilot certificate with an airplane multiengine land rating, and a type rating for Douglas DC-3 airplanes. He also held commercial pilot privileges with single-engine land and sea ratings. The most recent first-class medical certificate was issued to the pilot on June 3, 2000, and contained the limitation that he wear corrective lenses.

No personal flight records were located for the pilot, and the aeronautical experience listed on page 3 of this report was obtained from a review of airmen FAA records on file in the Airman and Medical Records Center located in Oklahoma City. On the pilot's application for medical certificate, dated June 3, 2000, the pilot indicated that his total aeronautical experience consisted of 15,000 hours, of which 300 were accrued in the previous 6 months.

Review of available company records indicated the captain attended DC-3 initial ground training, conducted by ERA Aviation Inc., Anchorage, April 17 to 18, 1997. He began company operations on July 1, 1997, and completed initial company new-hire training on July 21, 1997. A review of a pilot resume' from 1997 and 1998, indicated the captain had accrued about 15,000 hours of flight time, 5,000 of night, 2,000 of actual instrument, 50 of simulated instrument.

A review of the captain's medical records, on file with the FAA's airman branch, revealed the captain was convicted in December, 1985, for conspiracy and distribution of cocaine, and sentenced to 12 years in federal prison, with 6 years suspended. The pilot was released after serving 49 months. The FAA moved to re