ANC93FA012

This was 1 of 2 company airplanes that had landed on a beach to pick up hunters for a return trip to seward. The other airplane, a Cessna 206, was flown by the company chief pilot. The witnesses in the Cessna 206 said that the accident airplane took off 5 min before their Cessna 206 and 'disappeared into the weather and was never seen again.' They described the weather at the bay & along the route to seward to be 400-600 ft ceilings & visibility aprx 1 mi in fog. The wreckage was located 6 mi west of the takeoff point at an elevation of 1,000 ft in mountainous terrain.

History of flight

On November 6, 1992, at approximately 1620 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Cessna 207 airplane, N1686U, operated by Trail Lake Flying Service, d.b.a. Harbor Air Service of Seward, Alaska, collided with terrain on Montague Island, located about 75 miles southwest of Seward. The airline transport pilot and one passenger were fatally injured, and the airplane was destroyed. The flight had originated at Seward to pick up hunters at Patton Bay, located on Montague Island and had arrived on the beach to coincide with low tide at approximately 1545. The accident airplane and another Harbor Air Service airplane, a Cessna 206 airplane, N999Z, flown by the company chief pilot, Captain Joe Holland, departed at approximately 1615, that airplane having arrived in Seward at 1700.

The accident airplane's emergency locator transmitter (ELT) alerted search and rescue authorities. Aircraft (SAR) from the Coast Guard located the wreckage at approximately 2300 that evening and confirmed that the occupants had received fatal injuries.

The unscheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 135 when the accident occurred. Witnesses described the weather at the time of the flights to be instrument meteorological conditions. A company VFR flight plan was in effect at the time.

Passengers in the Cessna 206, N999Z, told the NTSB that there were four hunters in a party which had chartered Harbor Air to fly them to and from Montague Island. Two airplanes, a Harbor Air Cessna 206 and the accident Cessna 207, landed on the beach at North Patton Bay and the pilots decided to load the deer meat and supplies and one passenger in the 207 and three passengers and a rifle and a pack in the Cessna 206. These witnesses said that the accident airplane took off five minutes before their Cessna 206 and "disappeared into the weather and was never seen again."

Passengers in the Cessna 206 also provided statements to the NTSB that described the weather at Patten Bay and along the route from Montague Island to Seward to be ceilings 400 to 600 feet and visibility approximately 1 mile in fog, with wind 10 to 20 knots and higher gusts.

The wreckage of the Cessna 207 was located at approximately the 1000 foot elevation, 6 miles west of the north Patton Bay takeoff location.

The NTSB investigative team reached the site on Sunday, November 8, 1992 by Coast Guard helicopter. Investigative assistance to the NTSB was provided by members of the Coast Guard, Alaska State Troopers (AST) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Injuries to persons

The pilot and the passenger, as sole persons on board received fatal injuries.

Damage to aircraft

The Cessna 207 was destroyed by impact forces. There was no fire.

Personnel information

John R. Katelnikoff, Pilot-in-Command

Captain John Russell Katelnikoff, a native of Kodiak, Alaska, had been employed, as reported by the operator, since approximately June of 1992, and, according to the operator, had been a pilot previously for the operator during the summer flying season in 1989.

The investigation was unable to document any personal pilot flight time records. No pilot logs were produced for the investigation.

Records provided by the FAA indicated that at the time of the pilot's most recent medical examination, dated June 19, 1992, (First Class FAA Medical Certificate), the pilot stated that he was unemployed as of June 19, 1992.

A review of pilot medical records indicate that in August of 1977 he listed himself as a private pilot employed by "Kodiak Western" with 60 hours of pilot time in the position of "cargo".

In August (8/29/78) of 1978, he stated to a medical examiner that he had a commercial pilot's certificate and 330 flight hours and had been in the "present occupation" with Kodiak Western for "2 and 1/2 years."

Captain Fred Ball, director of Kodiak Area Peninsula Air operations, and former chief pilot for Kodiak Western told the NTSB in an interview on November 16, 1992, that he "had to let him (the accident pilot) go in 1980 after an accident down at Karluk (an airstrip near Karluk Lake on Kodiak Island). He described an accident in a Cessna 207 that was a result of an overloading and a takeoff crash. The former chief pilot told the NTSB that he had instructed Katelnikoff to carry only 2 passengers, however the pilot boarded 4 passengers and cargo, crashing on takeoff. He said that the pilot broke his nose in the accident.

FAA medical records indicate that the accident pilot had a scar on the bridge of his nose.

There are no records of application for medical certificates between 9/3/80 and 3/12/87. On the 3/12/87 application he gave his employer as "not applicable." No records were found by investigators to indicate the pilot had flown during the period of 1981 through 1986.

On February 11, 1988, the accident pilot applied for an annual medical certificate and listed his occupation as "commercial pilot" and his employer as the "Anchorage Times for 1 year." The NTSB interviewed former management officials with the Anchorage Times (Messrs Jenkins and Tobin) and they stated that they did not recall an employee named Katelnikoff and to their knowledge never employed a pilot.

On April 5, 1989, the accident pilot applied for an FAA annual medical certificate and listed his occupation as "commercial pilot" with Northern Air Cargo for "14 months." The NTSB was told by the Northern Air Cargo chief pilot's office on November 1, 1993, that they had no record of employing a pilot named Katelnikoff, and did not recall the name in any other capacity.

In an interview with (Mrs.) Linda K. Pfleger, the vice president of Trail Lake Flying Service, d.b.a. Harbor Air Service, on 11/7/92, the NTSB and FAA was told that "John (Katelnikoff) worked for us during the summer of 1989 and then left to fly in Kodiak."

Between 1987 and April 18, 1990, the pilot listed his total pilot time to have increased from 2300 to 3012 hours. In an application for medical certificate renewal on April 18, 1990, Mr. Katelnikoff listed his occupation as "pilot" for Peninsula Airways (Kodiak, Alaska) with a start date as May 5, 1990. Peninsula Airways confirmed that Mr. Katelnikoff was hired on May 16, 1990.

On December 14, 1990, in an application for a First Class Medical certificate, he listed his total pilot time as 3800 hours and indicated that he had flown 550 hours in the past 6 months for Penn Air (Peninsula Airways in Kodiak).

On November 20, 1991, in an application for a First Class Medical certificate, he listed his total pilot time as 5000 hours and his employer as "Penn Air."

The Kodiak Area Director of Operations of Peninsula Airways confirmed the employment dates of Mr. Katelnikoff and told the NTSB that Katelnikoff "was terminated" on November 17, 1991 and the reason given was that "he did not use good judgment, flew passengers in weather that was below what we considered as safe" (flying conditions). The chief pilot also said that "he could fly an airplane, he just couldn't think," adding that "I just couldn't sleep at night knowing that he (Katelnikoff) was flying our airplanes, I had to let him go."

In a statement to the NTSB (see attached statement), the director of operations stated, in part, "John, in my opinion did not have a healthy respect for weather related flying."

The Peninsula Airways director of operations was asked by the NTSB if he had been contacted by Harbor Air or anyone else for a reference, and he replied "no, if they had, I would have told them that I terminated him, and why."

Mr. Katelnikoff was rehired by the operator for the summer season in 1992. The company vice president, (Mrs. Linda Pfleger) told the NTSB "I hired him back, he worked for us before, he had lot's of experience." The NTSB asked the company vice president if she had done a background check of the pilot prior to hiring