# NTSB ANC03LA030: Cessna 208B, N1276P, Russian Mission, AK, January 30, 2003 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: January 30, 2003, 03:30 local (07:30 UTC) - Place: Russian Mission, AK - Coordinates: 61.898887, -161.438049 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=61.8989&lon=-161.4380&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Standing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/150) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 5 uninjured - Status: Completed, report July 23, 2003 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: Anchorage FSDO-03 - NTSB case key (mKey): 56593 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC03LA030 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/56593/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=56593 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC03LA030 ## Probable cause The failure of the pilot to use a tail stand while loading passengers, which resulted in the airplane's tail impacting the ground. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - Miscellaneous/other, standing - engine(s) not operating - fuselage,bulkhead - buckled - miscellaneous equipment - not used, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis The pilot did not place the tail stand under the tail of the airplane while loading a medical patient, and the airplane went down on its tail tie down ring, damaging the tail structure. A mechanic for the operator said the FS 427.88 bulkhead and tail tie down assembly were replaced due to the damage. ## Factual narrative On January 30, 2003, about 0330 Alaska standard time, a Cessna 208B airplane, N1276P, sustained substantial damage when the airplane's tail impacted the ground during passenger loading at the Russian Mission Airport, Russian Mission, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as an instrument flight rules (IFR) medical patient transfer flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, by Grant Aviation, Inc. of Anchorage, Alaska. The airline transport pilot, patient, and the three medical attendants were not injured. The intended destination was Bethel, Alaska. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on March 3, an FAA aviation safety inspector from the Anchorage Flight Standards District Office, said he was inspecting maintenance records at Grant Aviation, when he noticed a major airframe repair for unreported damage had been completed on the accident airplane. During a telephone conversation with the IIC on March 3, the director of operations for the operator said the accident pilot told him that he (the pilot) did not place the tail stand under the tail of the airplane while loading a medical patient at Russian Mission on the morning of the accident. The pilot told him the tail of the airplane went down on the tail tie down ring because too many people were in the aft section of the airplane while loading the patient. The pilot said it was dark, and he did not see the damage to the tail section, and flew the airplane to Bethel. In a telephone conversation with the IIC on March 5, a mechanic for the operator said the FS 427.88 bulkhead and tie down assembly were replaced due to the damage. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N1276P](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N1276P-2007-07-05), registration cancelled 2007-07-05, S/N 208B0852, built 2000 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: Cessna 208B - Registry model: [Cessna 208B](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-208b) (registry code 2073701) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney PT6A series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pt6a-series) (registry code 52032, turbo-prop) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 208B0852 - Airframe hours: 2800 - Engines: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A 675 horsepower turbo prop - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Part 135 - Registered owner: Grant Aviation Inc - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: AAIP, December 27, 2002, 86 hours before - Departed: 9AK2, Russian Mission, AK - Destination: BET, Bethel, AK - Flight plan: IFR - Airport: 9AK2, Russian Mission ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 40; injuries: none; airline transport; airplane ratings: multi-engine land, single-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 1, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; last flight review December 5, 2002; flight hours: 9,800 total, 3,500 in this make and model, 8,300 as pilot in command, 34 in the last 90 days, 5 in the last 30 days, 2 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Night/dark - Visibility: 10 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20030130003529A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20030130003529A), Jan 30, 2003: Cessna 208B, Russian Mission, AK, Substantial damage. (-23) On January 30, 2003, about 0330 Alaska standard time, a Cessna 208B airplane, N1276P, sustained substantial damage when the airplane's tail hit the… ## Other investigations on N1276P (1) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB ANC04LA032](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC04LA032), Feb 10, 2004: Cessna 208B (N1276P), Toksook Bay, AK, substantial damage. Probable cause: The pilot's inadequate planning and decision to initiate a takeoff into a crosswind that exceeded the airplane's demonstrated crosswind component, which resulted in a loss of directional control… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 20, 2003, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=56593. 490 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 490 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40183042&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Master.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.