- Date
- September 11, 1998, 23:15 local (Sep 12, 1998, 07:15 UTC)
- Place
- St. Mary'S, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N1563CBeech 1900C
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report September 28, 1999
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19980911029909A
- Case key
- 43981
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 follow the aircraft checklist, and an inadvertent wheels up landing. A factor was the pilot's distraction due to a malfunction of the flap system
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 certificated airline transport pilot was conducting a CFR Part 135 cargo flight to a remote airport. He was making a visual approach during dark night conditions in a twin-engine turboprop airplane. On the downwind portion of the landing approach, the pilot selected flaps down, but nothing happened. The pilot's trouble shooting did not remedy the flap problem, and he elected to make a flaps-up landing. The airplane settled onto the runway with the landing gear retracted. The airplane received damage to the underside, aft end of the fuselage, the engine nacelles, and propellers. The airplane is equipped with a landing gear warning horn, and a red cautionary annunciator light in the landing gear handle. The operator reported there was no mechanical malfunction with the airplane.
Factual narrative
On September 11, 1998, about 2315 Alaska daylight time, a Beech 1900C airplane, N1563C, sustained substantial damage during landing at the St. Mary's Airport, St. Mary's, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as Flight 91 on an instrument flight rules (IFR) cargo flight under Title 14 CFR Part 135 when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Alaska Central Express Inc., Anchorage, Alaska. The certificated airline transport pilot, the sole occupant, was not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the destination. An IFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, at 2133.
The Director of Operations for the operator reported the pilot was making a visual approach during dark night conditions to runway 16 at St. Mary's. On the downwind portion of the landing approach, the pilot selected flaps down, but nothing happened. The pilot's trouble shooting did not remedy the flap problem, and he elected to make a flaps-up landing. The airplane settled onto the runway with the landing gear retracted.
The airplane received damage to the underside, aft end of the fuselage, the engine nacelles, and propellers. The airplane is equipped with a landing gear warning horn, and a red cautionary annunciator light in the landing gear handle. In the pilot/operator report (NTSB form 6120.1/2) submitted by the operator, the operator indicated there was no mechanical malfunction with the airplane.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1563C
- Reported as
- Beech 1900C
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- UC-20
- Airframe hours
- 22,935
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-65B, 1,100 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Alaska Central Express Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 1, 1998 · 135 hours before
- Departed
- ANC · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- PASM
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PASM · St. Mary'S, runway 16, 6,003 × 150 ft, gravel
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
- 46
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Multi-engine sea, Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 11,288 total · 3,215 in this make and model · 8,415 as pilot in command · 205 in the last 90 days · 62 in the last 30 days · 6 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 83° at 7 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 46 °F, dew point 43 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- PAS
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.