- Date
- December 1, 2021, 18:25 local (Dec 2, 2021, 03:25 UTC)
- Place
- Port Alsworth, AK
- Injuries
- 1 minor
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N9602FCessna 208
- Defining event
- Approach-VFR pattern final: Controlled flight into terr/obj (CFIT)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20211201018539A
- Case key
- 104341
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The pilot's failure to maintain a proper approach path which resulted in landing short of the runway and impact with terrain.
Findings · 2
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that, during a second landing attempt at a private airport, in night conditions, the airplane descended below the glide path and landed short of the runway in an area of heavily forested terrain. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the wings and fuselage. The pilot reported that there were no pre-accident mechanical malfunctions or failures with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation, and the accident may have been prevented if the runway was equipped with a visual glide slope indicator.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9602F
- Reported as
- Cessna 208
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20800103
- Built
- 1985
- Airframe hours
- 25,724
- Engine
- P&W Canada PT6A-6 SERIES, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Business · Part 135
- Operator
- Lake And Peninsula Airlines Inc
- Registered owner
- Lake And Peninsula Airlines Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- PANO · Nondalton, AK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- PAKX · Port Alsworth, runway 06R, 3,849 × 100 ft, gravel
- Equipment
- Handheld GPS, Onboard weather, Satellite tracking device, Stall warning system, ADS-B, Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 76
- Injuries
- Minor
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Without waivers/limitations
- Last flight review
- May 25, 2021
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 47,000 total · 9,000 in this make and model · 46,500 as pilot in command · 90 in the last 90 days · 32.9 in the last 30 days · 1.5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night
- Wind
- 360° at 9 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- -0 °F, dew point -11 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.28 inHg
- Observed at
- PAIL, 32 nm away
- METAR
- PAIL 022153Z 36009KT 10SM CLR M18/M24 A3028 RMK AO2 SLP260 T11781244
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on March 21, 2022, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 4.8 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.