- Date
- July 30, 1989, 10:00 local (18:00 UTC)
- Place
- Haines, AK
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 3 serious
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N8257VPiper PA-32-301
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 10, 1990
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19890730025559A
- Case key
- 40929
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
Improper in-flight planning and decision by the pilot, which resulted in inadvertent flight into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). The weather conditions and terrain were related factors.
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
While on a VFR flt from skagway to juneau, AK, the pilot encountered obscuring wx conditions and reversed course. En route back to skagway, he encountered low ceiling, rain and fog. He descended to fly under the wx and lost visual reference at about 150 ft above a saltwater inlet. He initiated a climb in IMC, but the acft impacted on a steep, wooded hillside.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N8257V
- Reported as
- Piper PA-32-301
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 32-8206040
- Airframe hours
- 4,386
- Engine
- Lycoming IO-540-K1G5, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Skagway Air Service
- Registered owner
- Skagway Air Service Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 14, 1989 · 86 hours before
- Departed
- SGY · Skagway, AK
- Destination
- JNU · Juneau, AK
- 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
- 28
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane, Helicopter
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,102 total · 253 in this make and model · 1,565 as pilot in command · 291 in the last 90 days · 113 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 11 knots
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 52 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- 226, 4 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.