Friday, July 28, 2017

Cessna U206G Stationair, N1749R, registered to Laughlin Acquisitions LLC and operated by Alaska Skyways Inc dba Regal Air: Fatal accident occurred July 27, 2017 in Port Alsworth, Alaska

The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.

Additional Participating Entities:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Anchorage, Alaska
Regal Air; Anchorage, Alaska
Continental Motors; Mobile, Alabama
Textron Aviation; Wichita, Kansas

Aviation Accident Preliminary Report - National Transportation Safety Board:  https://app.ntsb.gov/pdf

Registered to Laughlin Acquisitions LLC and operated by Alaska Skyways Inc dba Regal Air: http://registry.faa.gov/N1749R

NTSB Identification: ANC17FA039
Nonscheduled 14 CFR Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Accident occurred Thursday, July 27, 2017 in Port Alsworth, AK
Aircraft: CESSNA U206G, registration: N1749R
Injuries: 1 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 27, 2017, about 0923 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna U206G airplane, N1749R, impacted remote tree-covered terrain while en route to a remote lodge on the Mulchatna River, about 12 miles northeast of Port Alsworth, Alaska in the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve. The commercial pilot sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed by a postcrash fire. The airplane was registered to Laughlin Acquisitions, LLC, Anchorage, Alaska and operated by Alaska Skyways, Inc., dba Regal Air, Anchorage as a 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 visual flight rules on-demand cargo flight. Instrument meteorological conditions were reported at Port Alsworth about 35 minutes after the accident time, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated from the Lake Hood Seaplane Base, Anchorage, about 0800.

The operator reported that the purpose of the flight was to deliver 334 pounds of lumber and insulation to the Kautumn Lodge on the Mulchatna River, about 20 miles northeast of Koliganek, Alaska and would conclude with a return flight to the Lake Hood Seaplane Base with three passengers onboard. The operator received a telephone call from the U.S. Air Force Alaska Rescue Coordination Center at 0924 indicating a signal was received from the airplane's 406 MHz emergency locator transmitter. An aerial search mission was conducted with an airplane from the operator, an airplane from the National Park Service based at Port Alsworth, and with a helicopter from an operator based at Port Alsworth. The burning wreckage was discovered in a forested area of the Miller Creek drainage about 1205.

The airplane wreckage aft of the firewall, extending outboard to both wing roots, and extending to the mid-empennage area was incinerated by a fire.

On July 28, the National Transportation Safety Board investigator-in-charge, an aviation safety inspector from the Federal Aviation Administration's Anchorage Flight Standards District Office, and the Alaska State Troopers traveled to the accident site via helicopter. The wreckage is pending recovery and transportation to a secure facility for future examination of the airframe and engine. 

The closest official weather observation station is located at the Port Alsworth Airport, Port Alsworth, about 12 miles southwest of the accident site. At 0650, an Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) was reporting, and stated in part: Wind calm, visibility 10 statute miles, clouds and sky condition, few clouds at 300 feet agl, broken ceiling at 1,500 feet agl, temperature 55° F, dew point 54° F, altimeter 29.94 inHg with remarks, "estimate pass closed." At 0958, a METAR was reporting, and stated in part: Wind calm, visibility 15 statute miles, clouds and sky condition, broken ceiling at 500 feet agl, overcast skies at 2,000 feet agl, temperature 57° F, dew point 55° F, altimeter 29.96 inHg with remarks, "estimate pass closed.

Those who may have information that might be relevant to the National Transportation Safety Board investigation may contact them by email eyewitnessreport@ntsb.gov, and any friends and family who want to contact investigators about the accident should email assistance@ntsb.gov

The National Transportation Safety Board is asking for help from people who were in the vicinity of last week’s fatal crash near Lake Clark Pass, on what weather reports from the area indicate was a cloudy day.

A preliminary report on the Thursday Cessna 206 crash that killed Regal Air pilot Joel Black, 22, was released Wednesday by the NTSB. According to the report, Black had been flying a load of about 330 pounds of lumber and insulation to the Kautumn Lodge near Koliganek; he took off from Anchorage’s Lake Hood at about 8 a.m., crashing about 12 miles northeast of Port Alsworth nearly 90 minutes later.

The 11th Air Force’s Rescue Coordination Center in Anchorage received an emergency locator transmitter signal from the aircraft at 9:24 a.m. Searchers found the burning Cessna in a wooded section of the Miller Creek drainage shortly after noon; Black had died at the scene.

“The airplane wreckage aft of the firewall, extending outboard to both wing roots, and extending to the mid-empennage area was incinerated by a fire,” NTSB officials wrote.

A weather report from Port Alsworth at 6:50 a.m. on the day of the crash included calm winds, but few clouds at 300 feet intensifying to a broken ceiling at 1,500 feet. By 9:58 a.m., a broken ceiling at 500 feet was overcast at 2,000 feet; a remark in the second report indicated “estimate pass closed.”

Clint Johnson, the NTSB’s Alaska chief, said Wednesday that the aircraft’s wreckage has yet to be recovered. It will be examined in Anchorage or Wasilla after it is brought in from the field.

In the meantime, as NTSB meteorologists in Washington, D.C. examine weather patterns in the area, Johnson said investigators are hoping to hear from anyone who was flying or on the ground in the general vicinity Thursday morning.

“We would love to talk with these folks to get a better idea of what the weather conditions were at the accident site at the time of the crash,” Johnson said. “If by chance there was some guy in this area, anybody who talked to this guy air-to-air — we’re looking for anything we can get.”

Anyone who was in the Lake Clark Pass area at the time of the crash is asked to call the NTSB’s Anchorage office at 907-782-4848.


http://www.ktva.com




PORT ALSWORTH, Alaska — A pilot whose downed aircraft was found burning within Alaska’s Lake Clark National Park and Preserve has been identified as a 22-year-old man who was from Pemberville, Ohio.

The plane’s operator, Regal Air of Anchorage, identified the Cessna 206’s pilot as Joel Black, park spokesman Megan Richotte said.

Mr. Black was an alumnus of Eastwood High School, where he’d been a sprinter on  the track team.

“He was just happy-go-lucky and put a smile on your face with his smile,” track Coach Brian Sabo said. “He was a hard worker.”

Alaska Dispatch News reported that the plane was carrying freight.

Ms. Richotte said park rangers and Alaska State Troopers on Thursday night landed at the crash site about 160 miles southwest of Anchorage. The body was recovered and then flown to the state medical examiner's office in Anchorage.

She says the National Transportation Safety Board will investigate.

Park officials were notified that a plane's emergency locator went off in the Miller Creek drainage within the national preserve Thursday morning. Park rangers flew to the site, but could not land there.


http://www4.toledoblade.com

A 22-year-old man died Thursday when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed in Southwest Alaska, according to authorities.

The pilot, identified as Joel Black of Ohio, was the only person onboard the Cessna 206, according to a statement from Lake Clark National Park and Preserve.

The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane was operated by Regal Air and carrying freight.

It departed from the Lake Hood Seaplane Base in Anchorage and was headed for "a remote landing site in the Bristol Bay area," said Brice Banning, NTSB senior aircraft accident investigator.

Banning said Friday he did not have a more specific destination and did not yet have information on what time the plane left Anchorage.

A woman who answered the phone at Regal Air Friday morning declined to comment.

Megan Richotte, public information officer with Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, said the plane was reported missing around 9:30 a.m. Thursday, when the Rescue Coordination Center said an emergency locator transmitter had activated inside of the vast national park.

Around 1:45 p.m., park rangers found the plane, downed and burning in the Miller Creek drainage about 12 miles northeast of Port Alsworth.

Richotte described the area of the crash as "a forested valley bottom in mountainous terrain."

Alaska State Troopers and park rangers recovered the pilot's body Thursday night, Richotte said. The body was flown to the Medical Examiner's office in Anchorage, she said.

Banning said he expected an NTSB investigator to travel to the scene of the crash Friday. He said what caused the crash remained under investigation.

https://www.adn.com

Searchers found the pilot and sole occupant of a small plane dead Thursday afternoon, following the plane’s crash in the vicinity of Lake Clark Pass.

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve spokeswoman Megan Richotte confirmed Friday morning that the pilot, 22-year-old Joel Black of Pemberville, Ohio, had died in the crash.

“Troopers and park rangers were able to get to the site and recover the body of the pilot which was sent to the (state medical examiner’s) office,” Richotte said.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Brice Banning said the NTSB was informed that a Cessna 206 was missing at about 10 a.m. Thursday. Searchers looking for the plane told investigators shortly before 2 p.m. that it was found crashed about 12 miles northeast of Port Alsworth.

The Cessna operated by Regal Air Services had taken off from the Lake Hood seaplane base in Anchorage, Banning said Friday, and was headed for a remote landing site in the Bristol Bay area.

According to a news release from the park, the downed plane was found burning in the Miller Creek drainage.

Regal told NTSB officials Black was the only person on board. An employee said the company didn’t have an immediate statement on the crash Friday morning.

An NTSB investigator was expected to reach the crash site Friday. Information on the plane’s radio transmissions and tracking data was still being gathered, Banning said.

http://www.ktva.com

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