- Date
- October 17, 2019, 17:40 local (Oct 18, 2019, 02:40 UTC)
- Place
- Unalaska, AK
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 1 serious, 3 minor, 37 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N686PASaab 2000
- Defining event
- Landing-landing roll: Runway excursion
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report November 2, 2021
- Report
- Board-adopted at Board Meeting · Board meeting November 2, 2021
- Investigation class
- Class 1
- NTSB office
- Major Investigations Division
- Parties
- FAA AVP-100, Rolls-Royce
- Safety recommendations
- Yes
- FAA report
- 20191017015849A
- Case key
- 100437
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 landing gear manufacturer’s incorrect wiring of the wheel speed transducer harnesses on the left main landing gear during overhaul. The incorrect wiring caused the antiskid system not to function as intended, resulting in the failure of the left outboard tire and a significant loss of the airplane’s braking ability, which led to the runway overrun. Contributing to the accident were (1) Saab’s design of the wheel speed transducer wire harnesses, which did not consider and protect against human error during maintenance; (2) the Federal Aviation Administration’s lack of consideration of the runway safety area dimensions at Unalaska Airport during the authorization process that allowed the Saab 2000 to operate at the airport; and (3) the flight crewmembers’ inappropriate decision, due to their plan continuation bias, to land on a runway with a reported tailwind that exceeded the airplane manufacturer’s limit. The safety margin was further reduced because of PenAir’s failure to correctly apply its company-designated pilot-in-command airport qualification policy, which allowed the accident captain to operate at one of the most challenging airports in PenAir’s route system with limited experience at the airport and in the Saab 2000 airplane.
Findings · 10
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Factual narrative
On October 17, 2019, about 1740 Alaska daylight time, PenAir flight 3296, a Saab 2000, N686PA, overran the runway while landing at the Thomas Madsen Airport (PADU), Unalaska, Alaska. The airplane passed through the airport perimeter fence, crossed a road, and came to rest on shoreline rocks. Of the 42 passengers and crewmembers on board, 1 passenger was fatally injured, and several other passengers sustained serious or minor injuries. The airplane received substantial damage. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from Ted Stevens International Airport (KANC), Anchorage, Alaska, to PADU.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N686PA
- Reported as
- Saab 2000 (No Series)
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 2000-017
- Built
- 1995
- Airframe hours
- 12,617
- Engines
- Rolls-Royce AE2001A, 3,738 horsepower, turbo propRolls-Royce AE2001A, 3,738 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Peninsula AviationServices Inc.,, doing business as PenAir
- Registered owner
- Wells Fargo Trust Co Na Trustee
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · October 16, 2019
- Departed
- ANC · Anchorage, AK
- Destination
- PADU · Unalaska, AK
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- PADU · Unalaska, runway 13, 4,500 × 100 ft, asphalt
- Equipment
- Data recorder, Electronic multifunction display, Auto-pilot, Electronic primary flight display
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 · 3
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 56
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 14,630 total · 134 in this make and model · 11,679 as pilot in command
- Role
- Co-pilot
- Age
- 39
- Injuries
- None
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Without waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Right
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 1,446 total · 147 in this make and model
- Role
- Cabin crew
- Injuries
- None
- Seat
- Rear
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Lowest ceiling
- 3,900 ft broken
- Temperature
- 43 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.52 inHg
Docket · 40
The files NTSB released with the investigation on December 16, 2020, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 784 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.