ANC94LA026

The pilot attempted a downwind landing on icy, wet runway. No local observer was available to assess the runway condition. The wind sock and whitecaps on nearby water were available to the pilot to determine wind on approach.

On December 12, 1993, at approximately 1100 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Piper PA-32 airplane, N43257, struck a snow berm on the side of the runway at Port Lions, near Kodiak, Alaska. The airplane, operating under 14 CFR Part 135, on-demand air taxi on a VFR flight plan, left the runway surface, sustaining substantial damage in a small ditch. Visual meteorological conditions existed during the flight which had departed Kodiak at 1045. The airline transport pilot and four passengers on board were not injured.

The pilot told NTSB and FAA investigators that the (2100 foot long) runway was usable the full length but "was icy." He said that the weather was "1000 foot overcast, 10 miles visibility with winds from the northeast, 10 to 15 (knots)". He said that he selected runway 24 for landing and hit a snow berm on the side of the runway, breaking the propeller and nose gear. He said that "trees at one end makes us land that way" (toward the SW). An Alaska State Trooper Sergeant Robert Hinds on scene said that it was raining and water on the ice "made it very slippery just getting up there."

Company representatives reportedly told the FAA Principal Maintenance Inspector (PMI) that the airplane sustained damage to the firewall bulkhead, as well as some limited rib damage to both wings. A narrative report received from the company on 12/13/93 stated that the "pilot decided to land downwind-uphill (1.29 grade)- from the air rwy looked sanded-ice was wet. Lost control midway + slid off side. Bent prop + folded nose wheel under - pax not injured."

The Alaska Supplement, Flight Information Publication, cautions pilots using Port Lions, "Rwy condition not monitored, recommend visual inspection prior to using. Subject to downdrafts during NE winds. Rwy width 100 ft between edge markers."

There was no ground observer at Port Lions at the time of the landing accident and no local field conditions were known to have been transmitted to the pilot.