- Date
- June 20, 1997, 16:00 local (Jun 21, 1997, 00:00 UTC)
- Place
- Prudhoe Bay, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N756DJCessna 206
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 10, 1998
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19970620015909A
- Case key
- 3018
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 improper preflight inspection of the airplane and failure to properly secure the baggage door.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The pilot reported he was in a descent to land when the cargo door opened and struck the side of the fuselage, causing substantial damage to the airframe. He said he thought he had latched and locked the door properly before he departed on the accident flight, but when it opened, he realized he had not. Postaccident inspection of the door and locking mechanism disclosed no evidence of any preimpact mechanical anomalies.
Factual narrative
On June 20, 1997, about 1600 Alaska daylight time, a wheel equipped Cessna 206 airplane, N756DJ, operated by Warbelow's Air Adventures as a scheduled commuter flight under 14 CFR Part 135, sustained substantial damage while descending to land at the Deadhorse Airport, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. The flight departed Nuiqsut, Alaska, and was en route to Prudhoe Bay. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed.
According to the operator, the pilot was flying a scheduled commuter flight route with cargo only aboard. When the pilot reduced engine power and begin to descend for a landing at the Deadhorse Airport, the aft cargo door opened and slammed against the side of the fuselage, resulting in substantial damage to the airframe. The pilot continued to Prudhoe Bay, and made an uneventful landing.
The pilot wrote in his report to the NTSB that he thought he had latched and locked the door, but realized when the door opened that he had not secured it properly.
Postaccident inspection of the airplane by FAA inspectors at Fairbanks, Alaska, disclosed damage to fuselage formers and stringers. The door latching mechanism was also examined and found to function satisfactorily, with no observed mechanical deficiencies.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N756DJ
- Reported as
- Cessna 206
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20604005
- Airframe hours
- 5,766
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F13B, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Warbelow'S Air Adventures
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · May 28, 1997 · 52 hours before
- Departed
- AQT · Nuiqsut, AK
- Destination
- PASC
- Flight plan
- VFR
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
- 48
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Unknown, Unknown
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,200 total · 500 in this make and model · 6,100 as pilot in command · 240 in the last 90 days · 60 in the last 30 days · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 70° at 13 knots
- Visibility
- 50 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 61 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N756DJ · 3
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.