ANC96LA025

The pilot said that while taxiing from landing, as he was making a right turn into the ramp area, the wind lifted the right wing causing the left wing and propeller to strike the ground. The taxi surface was hard-packed snow and ice, and braking action was poor. The 1251 wind was reported as 35 knots with gusts to 41. The Director of Operations (D.O.) stated that the flight went through the normal flight following/dispatch procedures. The D.O. said there were no written company standards addressed when flights should be cancelled due to excessive surface wind velocity. In addition, the D.O. indicated that the primary responsibility for determining if the winds/weather were suitable for the flight to be conducted rested with the pilot-in-command.

On January 27, 1996, about 1230 Alaska standard time, a wheel equipped Cessna 206, N5293X, experienced an upset while taxiing at the Ralph Wein Memorial Airport, Kotzebue, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) cross- country positioning flight under Title 14 CFR Part 91 when the accident occurred. The airplane, registered to and operated by Baker Aviation Inc., Kotzebue, sustained substantial damage. The certificated airline transport pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Noorvik airport, Noorvik, Alaska, at 1209.

The operator reported that after landing on runway 08, the pilot exited the runway at the east end and was taxiing to the company ramp. The taxiway surface was hard-packed snow and ice. Braking action was poor. While making the turn into the ramp area, gusty winds tipped the right wing of the airplane upwards. The left wing and propeller contacted the taxiway surface, wrinkling the outboard end of the wing and damaging the propeller tips.

A 1251 surface weather observation at Kotzebue was reporting in part: Sky condition and ceiling, 10,000 feet scattered, 20,000 feet thin broken clouds; visibility, 3 miles in blowing snow; temperature, 4 degrees F; dew point -1 degrees F; wind, 110 degrees at 35 knots, gusts to 41 knots; altimeter, 30.07 inHg.

A telephone conversation with the Director of Operations (D.O.) on March 27, disclosed that the accident flight went through the normal flight following/dispatch procedures. The D.O. indicated that the primary responsibility for determining if the winds/weather were suitable for the flight to be conducted rested with the pilot-in-command. The D.O. said when the flight was conducted, there were no written company standards which addressed when flights should be cancelled due to excessive surface wind velocity. The D.O. also said that several earlier flights that day had been cancelled due to high winds and associated turbulence, and that the only way that the accident flight could have been prevented was "...for the pilot not to have been there."