ANC01LA070

The certificated airline transport pilot was conducting an aerial caribou survey, aided by radio-equipped tracking collars. He began to receive a radio signal and began a descent over the flat, featureless, snow-covered terrain, and was soon able to make visual contact with a herd of caribou. The pilot said, in part: "...as we passed over the top of the herd I made a turn to the right. The wings had just rolled level, and the airplane just came to a stop in the snow." He added that during the turn, he lost visual contact with the snow-covered terrain, and collided with the ground at a shallow angle. He reported that flat light conditions made it very difficult to discern any topographical features in the surrounding area.

On April 25, 2001, about 1750 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 207A airplane, N6295H, sustained substantial damage when it collided with snow-covered terrain about 80 miles southwest of Deadhorse, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand passenger flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was registered to, and operated by, Cape Smythe Air Service, Barrow, Alaska. The certificated airline transport pilot, and the two passengers aboard, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was in effect. The flight originated at the Umiat Airport, Umiat, Alaska, about 1715.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge on April 26, the pilot reported that he was conducting an aerial caribou survey, aided by radio-equipped tracking collars. He added that the two passengers aboard were wildlife biologists employed by the State of Alaska. He said that after departing from Umiat he climbed the airplane to 5,500 feet in search of another caribou, and soon began to receive a radio signal. He began a descent over the flat, featureless, snow-covered terrain, and was soon able to make visual contact with a herd of caribou. The pilot said, in part: "...as we passed over the top of the herd I made a turn to the right. The wings had just rolled level, and the airplane just came to a stop in the snow." He added that during the turn, he lost visual contact with the snow-covered terrain, and collided with the ground at a shallow angle. He reported that flat light conditions made it very difficult to discern any topographical features in the surrounding area.

The pilot indicated that there were no preaccident mechanical anomalies with the airplane.

The airplane was not recovered until June 13 due to poor weather, and flat light conditions. The operator's director of maintenance reported that the airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage as a result of the collision.