SEA06FA115

History of flight

On June 8, 2006, about 1315 Pacific daylight time, a Cessna TU206G, N5136X, registered to and operated by Majestic Alliance of Everett, Washington, as a 14 CFR Part 135 on-demand air taxi flight, collided with trees and rising terrain near Mullan, Idaho. Instrument meteorological conditions were reported in the area of the accident site and no flight plan was filed. The aircraft was substantially damaged and the commercial pilot and passenger were fatally injured. The flight departed from Coeur d'Alene (COE), Idaho, sometime after 1235, and was en route to Missoula, (MSO) Montana. There was no report of an emergency locator transmitter signal.

The employer of the passenger reported that this flight had been scheduled with the pilot for about a week in advance. The purpose of the flight was to deliver components to Empire Airlines in MSO. The employer reported that his company had been using this pilot for several years and that they were friends. This route had been flown many times before. The morning of the flight, the pilot had called this person and stated that the weather in Missoula was socked in, but he was getting a clearance to make the flight. The plan was to depart Everett, Paine Field (PAE) about 0800 with a stop at COE to deliver some equipment, and then to continue on to MSO. This person stated that there was some urgency to get the equipment to Missoula as Empire had an aircraft on the ground awaiting their arrival.

Recorded communications between the pilot and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) indicated that the pilot contacted Seattle Automated Flight Service Station (AFSS) at 0813 for a weather briefing and to file an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan from PAE to COE. The pilot reported the time of departure as 0935 for the one hour forty-five minute flight. At 0941, the pilot contacted Seattle Flight Watch to request a weather update for COE. The flight landed in COE sometime after 1100. Records obtained from South Field Fuel, indicated that the aircraft was fueled with 32.60 gallons of 100LL at 1147. At 1224, the pilot contacted Seattle AFSS indicating that he was in COE and requested the weather for Mullan Pass. The conversation concluded at 1234. The pilot did not file a flight plan or indicate when he was going to depart from COE. There were no in-flight communications recorded after the flight departed from COE.

At 1315 a witness traveling westbound on Interstate 90, near the town of Mullan, reported that she observed a red and white aircraft traveling eastbound directly over the Interstate. She estimated that the aircraft was just below the ceiling, which was a solid layer about 500 feet above ground level. The witness stated that she departed from Missoula about 1230 mountain daylight time and that the weather in Missoula was a little bit better. The ceiling bases were solid from St. Regis, Montana, to Mullan Pass. She stated that the precipitation was light to heavy rain along the route. From about one mile east to one mile west of Mullan Pass, the clouds were directly on the road. As she descended lower in the valley, the cloud bases were no higher than about 500 feet above the road.

Approximately 1440, the Shoshone County Sheriff's Office received a call from an individual who reported that he came across aircraft wreckage while riding his motorcycle on a dirt road. Deputies were dispatched to the area and confirmed that the accident site was located on a dirt road about 100-200 feet directly above Interstate 90 near the Lookout Pass Ski Resort. The terrain rose steeply above the interstate to the dirt road. The aircraft collided with several trees on the north side of the dirt road before colliding with the rising terrain on the opposite side and about 30 feet up from the dirt road.

Personnel information

At the time of the accident, the pilot held a commercial certificate for airplane single engine land operations and instrument flight. The pilot's flight logbooks were not made available for review, however, the pilot's airman medical records indicated that on June 7, 2005, during the pilot's last second class medical examination, he reported a total flight time of 4,350 hours, with 100 hours in the preceding 6 months. A one page flight log was recovered from the wreckage that indicated flight times dating from December 20, 2005, to May 15, 2006. Total flight time accumulated during this period totaled 59.2 hours.

On January 11, 2006, the pilot successfully passed a Federal Aviation Administration Airman Competency/Proficiency Check for operations conducted under 14 CFR Part 135 operations.

Air Carrier Certificate number IRTA552T was issued to the pilot effective on June 26, 1991, operating under the names; Majestic Alliance and Air Transfer Services, Inc. The principal base of operation was located at Everett, Washington.

A review of the Operations Specifications, indicated that the single-pilot certificate holder was authorized to conduct on-demand operations in Cessna TU206G, N5136X, for the carriage of passengers and cargo under day and night visual flight rule conditions. The Operations Specification further indicated that, "The certificate holder is not authorized and shall not: Conduct IFR en route operations." The Operational Control section of the specification indicated that, "An FAA flight plan will be filed with the local Flight Service Station for each flight under FAR 135."

Aircraft information

The single engine Cessna TU206G was manufactured in 1980 and equipped with a Teledyne Continental Motors TSIO-520M engine. The maintenance records indicated that the airframe and engine had been maintained and inspected in accordance with a 100 hour/annual inspection program. At the time of the accident, the airframe had accumulated a total airframe time of approximately 2,852.4 hours. The engine was overhauled in October 2004. The engine had accumulated a total time since overhaul of 306.1 hours at the time of the accident.

Meteorological information

The nearest weather reporting facility to the accident site was the Mullan Pass (MLP) VOR/DME, Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS), located at 47 degrees 27' 24.851" north latitude, 115 degrees 38' 45.762" west longitude, at an elevation of 6,100 feet mean sea level. The ASOS is located about three nautical miles east of the accident site.

At 1153 MLP was reporting the temperature and dew point as 46 degrees F. The wind was from the north at 3 knots. Visibility was one-quarter of a mile. The clouds were broken at 100 feet and overcast at 600 feet. Altimeter setting was 30.03" Hg.

At 1253 MLP was reporting the temperature and dew point as 45 degrees F. The wind was from the north at 3 knots. Visibility was 0. The ceiling was indefinite at 100 feet. Altimeter setting was 30.04" Hg.

At 1353 MLP was reporting the temperature and dew point as 45 degrees F. The wind was from 330 degrees at 3 knots. Visibility was 0. The ceiling was indefinite at 100 feet. Altimeter setting was 30.05" Hg.

At 1235 COE was reporting the temperature as 57 degrees F and the dew point as 50 degrees F. The wind was calm. Visibility was 10 miles. The clouds were broken at 2,200 feet.

At 1253 MSO was reporting the temperature as 65 degrees F and the dew point as 58 degrees F. The wind was calm. Visibility was 10 miles. The clouds were few at 1,300 feet and scattered at 9,000 feet.

Communications

At 0813, the pilot made contact, via the telephone, with Seattle AFSS and initially requested the cloud tops from PAE to COE. The specialist gave pilot reports of the tops from 6,500 feet to 7,500 feet, with skies clear above. The pilot then asked for the weather at Mullan Pass after leaving COE. The specialist reported "quite a bit of moisture on the eastern side of Washington into Idaho." The specialist further reported AIRMETs for m