The National Transportation Safety Board traveled to the scene of this accident.
Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Anchorage, Alaska
Location: Unalaska, AK
Accident Number: DCA20MA002
Date & Time: 10/17/2019, 1740 AKD
Registration: N686PA
Aircraft: Saab 2000
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious, 3 Minor, 37 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 121: Air Carrier - Scheduled
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 and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: Saab
Registration: N686PA
Model/Series: 2000 No Series
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: Peninsula Aviation Services Inc
Operating Certificate(s) Held: Flag carrier (121); Supplemental
Operator Does Business As: PenAir
Operator Designator Code: PNSA
Meteorological Information and Flight Plan
Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation:
Observation Time:
Distance from Accident Site:
Temperature/Dew Point: 6°C / 2°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Unknown
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction:
Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 3900 ft agl
Visibility:
Altimeter Setting: 29.52 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: IFR
Departure Point: Anchorage, AK (ANC)
Destination: Unalaska, AK (PADU)
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 3 None
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious, 3 Minor, 34 None
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious, 3 Minor, 37 None
Latitude, Longitude:
David Allan Oltman died unexpectedly in Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Oct. 17 at the age of 38.
David is survived by his parents, Leo and Diana Oltman of Ellensburg, WA; wife, Erin, and their children, Reece and Evan of Wenatchee, WA; siblings, Scott Oltman of Ellensburg, WA and Leanne Semprimoznik of Spokane, WA.
David was born July 14, 1981 in Yakima, WA. He graduated from Ellensburg High School in 2000, and later received a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Retail Management at Central Washington University.
David first met his wife Erin in 2000 and began dating in 2003. In 2010, David and Erin were married and settled in Wenatchee, WA. The Oltman's children are Reece (age 6) and Evan (age 3).
Called "David of all trades," David was known for his wide repertoire of skills. His work history included construction, orthopedic implant representative, technology plant manager at Jeld Wen, Mission Ridge Ski Patrol, Chelan County fire recruit, commercial fisherman, and most recently the owner of BKR Construction Services.
His family and friends recognized him as a "master of play." He worked hard to play hard. He enjoyed fishing, biking, skiing, camping, paddle boarding, water skiing, dirt biking, and hunting.
David was the backbone of his family whom he loved and adored. He strove to be the absolute best for his family, for which he was always the driving force. David had a knack for conversation. He was able to make a connection with anyone. This contributed to his success professionally and why so many have fond memories of and with David. David was loved by so many from all walks of life. His ability to fit into any environment is why he impacted so many people.
A Celebration of Life is scheduled for Sunday, Oct, 27, 2019 at the Mission Ridge Lodge from 1 to 4 p.m. Friends and family members are welcome to attend and celebrate David's life. Please wear your Xtratufs, Sorels, or Bogs as there is snow on the ground. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Mission Ridge Avalanche Control at https://www.missionridge.com.
Condolences can be sent to https://www.jonesjonesbetts.com.
The family would like to specifically thank the Mission Ridge family, the Paton Family, the Roberts Family, the Garlini Family, and Saddlerock Brewery.
This picture shows the area where a propeller on the Saab 2000 punctured the Peninsula Airways aircraft, killing David Oltman of Wenatchee, Washington.
Regular flights to and from Unalaska, a place that relies on air travel, are suspended in the aftermath of a fatal commercial plane crash on Thursday that killed a Washington state man.
The cessation of regular service left travelers stranded or scrambling for charter flights even as demand for seats spiked with Bering Sea crabbers headed out for the season opener.
Alaska Airlines markets two or three flights a day from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, an airport notorious for temperamental Aleutian weather at a runway hemmed in by water.
Alaska Airlines and PenAir, a Ravn Air Group carrier, are temporarily stopping operations to and from Dutch Harbor in “the interest of safety” and “are working together to determine a timeline for resuming service,” according to an Alaska Airlines statement. Alaska markets the flight as PenAir, but that company was purchased by a Ravn affiliate in bankruptcy proceedings last year.
Alaska is offering a full refund to people who bought tickets on the route through Oct. 28. An Alaska Airlines spokesman said that doesn’t mean service will be suspended through that date.
A Ravn spokeswoman referred all questions to Alaska Airlines.
The crash occurred Thursday afternoon when a plane landing with 39 passengers and three crew from Anchorage ran off the end of the runway on the pilot’s second attempt to touch down. The Saab 2000 twin-engine turboprop came to a stop with its nose hanging over the edge of a rocky embankment at the water’s edge. Parts of a propeller blade ended up in the cabin.
Traumatic injuries killed Wenatchee resident 38-year-old David Allan Oltman. People in Unalaska say Oltman’s construction job brought him there fairly regularly.
Another critically injured passenger was flown to Anchorage. Nine more people got hurt, including at least one member of Cordova’s high school swim team who needed a trip to Anchorage for metal embedded in his leg. The rest of the team returned home Friday.
An 8-member National Transportation Safety Board team is in Unalaska investigating the crash, according to the agency’s Alaska chief, Clint Johnson. A barge brought the plane to another site at the airport for inspection. The cockpit recorders yielded good recordings, Johnson said.
It wasn’t the NTSB’s decision to suspend air service, which falls outside that agency’s authority, he said.
The disruption to air service stranded some either in Unalaska or on their way back.
Don Goodfellow’s quality control manager at Alyeska Seafoods Inc. was stuck in Portland as of Tuesday. Another of his employees couldn’t rotate out for vacation and was helping with maintenance between pollock and crab processing seasons.
The next pulse in demand for air travel could come within a few days, Goodfellow said, when crab fishermen get a break between seasons and will want to go home.
“I’m expecting my dock will be very full of very frustrated fishermen if we don’t get service restored pretty soon,” he said.
Several companies provide charter service to the area: flights booked by a single entity, like a seafood processor, instead of seat by seat.
Alaska Central Express on Tuesday was sending two charters to Unalaska and two to Akun Island, the closest place to get a boat or smaller plane over to Dutch Harbor, according to Steven Deaton, senior vice president.
But getting one of 16 seats on the company’s Beechcraft 1900 isn’t as easy as booking a ticket online.
“Thing is, they’re trying to buy one seat,” customer service representative Alicia Tufaga said Tuesday. “We don’t do that, we don’t sell individual seats. People are trying to get on the charter but they have to contact the people who chartered the plane.”
Grant Aviation doesn’t provide scheduled service between Anchorage and Unalaska. But some travelers booked flights from Unalaska to Saint Paul Island where they could catch a Ravn flight to Anchorage, according to Grant’s station manager in Unalaska.
Flying challenges are familiar in the Aleutians, longtime Unalaska resident Suzi Golodoff said Tuesday, reporting “crappy visibility” and a nasty cross-wind near the airport.
The current situation is causing residents to cancel medical appointments and planned trips but at the same time, it’s not unusual to go for days without getting out, Golodoff said.
“The bigger thing is people are badly shaken and really feeling tender about what happened,” she said. “It was really a horrible thing to see that plane over the embankment like that.”
https://www.adn.com
The Alaska State Troopers identified the victim as David Allan Oltman, 38, of Washington state, according to Associated Press reports. Oltman died Thursday night, PenAir announced in a Friday, Oct. 18 statement.
The accident took place when a plane attempting to land slid partway off a runway at Unalaska’s Tom Madsen Airport, also known as Dutch Harbor Airport. Alaska Airlines flight 3296, operated by PenAir from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, was also carrying the Cordova Jr./Sr. High School swim team.
“On behalf of PenAir, Ravn Air Group and all our employees throughout the company, we would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and loved ones of our passenger who passed away,” said Ravn Air Group President Dave Pflieger in a statement.
The accident took place at 5:40 p.m., according to a report from Alaska Airlines. In photos of the accident, the Saab 2000 twin engine turboprop plane is seen with its nose hanging off a shallow embankment over water about 500 feet from the airport. The aircraft carried 39 passengers and three crew members, according to the report.
The aircraft was apparently forced beyond its planned landing area by high winds, said an eyewitness quoted in an Associated Press reports. However, the conditions leading to the accident remain undetermined, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Allen Kenitzer, the Associated Press reports.
Initial reports from Cordova School District seemingly indicated that none of the 10 students on board, or their coaches or chaperones, had been harmed. However, student Charlie Carroll, 16, had a piece of metal embedded in his left leg during the crash, said Charlie’s mother Lisa Carroll. Charlie Carroll also told his mother that the passenger sitting next to him had broken his leg, she said. Charlie Carroll is planned to be flown to Anchorage for treatment, his mother said.
Two passengers had been critically injured in the incident, and another 10 were receiving medical care in Unalaska, announced Debbie Reinwand, a spokesperson for Ravn Air Group, which owns PenAir, in a statement Thursday evening.
PenAir is cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board, which will be investigating this accident, Reinwand said. The NTSB had dispatched a team of nine investigators to the site, the agency announced via Twitter on Friday.
PenAir and Ravn Air Group have established a family assistance line for anyone with loved ones aboard the flight, at 1-800-757-4784.
Reported earlier:
A PenAir plane carrying the Cordova Jr./Sr. High School swim team slid partway off a runway at an Unalaska airport on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 17. The approximately 10 students on board, as well as their chaperones and coaches, were unharmed in the accident, said Cordova School District Superintendent Alex Russin.
The incident occurred around 6:11 p.m. at Tom Madsen Airport, also known as Dutch Harbor Airport. In photos of the accident, the aircraft is seen with its nose hanging off a shallow ledge over water.
Within an hour of the accident, the members of the swim team had been reassembled and were eating pizza, wrote Russin in an email announcement. Unalaska School District Superintendent John P. Conwell confirmed that the students were all accounted for and seemed fine, Russin wrote.
Eyewitnesses said that the other passengers also appeared largely unharmed, although some passengers were transported from the airport in an ambulance, according to an Associated Press report.
“The Unalaska School District is taking care of our students to the best of their ability,” Russin said. “They are safe and secure and our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody involved… The students and chaperones are accounted for — a bit shaken, but safe.”
Original article ➤ https://www.thecordovatimes.com
A 38-year-old man from Washington state died when a PenAir plane went off the end of the runway Thursday afternoon at Unalaska’s airport, officials say.
David Allan Oltman died of “traumatic injuries suffered in the crash,” according to updates Friday morning from Unalaska officials and Alaska State Troopers. Another critically injured passenger was flown to Anchorage. Nine others were also hurt, according to the city’s Department of Public Safety. Responders had to extricate one patient and evacuated the others.
The Alaska Airlines flight carrying 42 people was operated by Peninsula Airways, or PenAir. Cordova’s high school swim team was on the plane, which left Anchorage at 3:15 p.m.
Oltman died Thursday night, according to a statement from RavnAir Group, which owns PenAir. RavnAir president Dave Pflieger extended “deepest sympathies and condolences” to his family and loved ones.
“Our entire team is devastated by this tragic incident,” Pflieger said.
Authorities say it’s not yet clear what happened to cause the Saab 2000 plane to go off the end of the runway, coming to a stop just short of the water with its nose hanging over an embankment. The airport is notoriously challenging due to topography and winds.
The plane crashed at around 5:45 p.m. after a missed approach on the first attempt to land, according to preliminary information from Clint Johnson, Alaska chief for the National Transportation Safety Board.
“The accident happened on the second landing attempt," Johnson said.
Local officials said the swim team members were all unhurt, but the mother of one said a piece of metal was embedded in his leg and the person next to him suffered a broken leg, according to a report in The Cordova Times.
Her 16-year-old son is staying in Unalaska until Sunday, when he’s supposed to fly to Anchorage, Lisa Carroll said. She and his father will meet him at the airport and he’ll get the piece of metal removed from the soft tissue of his leg Monday.
“He’s fine but shaken,” Carroll wrote in an email Friday. “I’m just thankful for all the emergency responders and citizens of Unalaska who responded to the scene ... As a parent I am shaken, but again God is good and I’m glad there were boots on the ground taking care of all the injured. My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.”
The Unalaska Fire Department arrived about five minutes after the crash and transported seven patients to the Iliuliuk Clinic and four others were brought to the clinic by personal vehicle, according to the public safety update. Injuries ranged from minor to critical.
A major investigations team of eight or nine people from the NTSB was expected to leave Washington, D.C., for Anchorage on Friday morning. Some members will continue to Dutch Harbor on Saturday. The investigation is being run from the agency’s headquarters because it involves a commuter air carrier and someone died in the crash, Johnson said. An Anchorage-based investigator is on the team, which also includes experts in airworthiness and operations as well as John Lovell, the the investigator in charge.
The runway is shut down until further notice, local officials say. Law enforcement has secured the scene pending the arrival of the federal investigators. The plane may still pose safety risks so officials are asking the public is asked to stay away from the area.
PenAir and Ravn are fully cooperating with the NTSB, according to a statement sent through a public-relations firm representing the airline. PenAir and Ravn have established a family assistance line at 1-800-757-4784.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.adn.com
ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - UPDATE, 10/18/19 5:35 a.m.:
The National Transportation Safety Board says it is sending a team of nine to Unalaska to investigate the crash.
According to the Associated Press, the plane was carrying 42 people.
UPDATE, 11:05 p.m.: Two people were critically injured when a commercial plane went off the runway at the Unalaska Airport on Thursday evening, with the aircraft left teetering over a bank toward a nearby body of water.
In a news release late Thursday night, a representative for the public relations firm representing PenAir wrote that the company had "been informed that two passengers were critically injured and ten others are receiving medical care in Unalaska. All other passengers are being cared for."
The release went on to include a message from company CEO Dave Pflieger.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our passengers and crew, and the family members of everyone with loved ones on this flight,” he said.
Clint Johnson of the National Transportation Safety Board said early Thursday evening that details of the incident were still being worked out.
"We've got a major investigation going here," he said, "and there's all sorts of rumors going around. We're trying to get an investigator down, and the rest of the team will be coming from Washington, D.C."
PenAir, which is owned by Ravn Air Group, is in close contact and fully cooperating with the NTSB, according to the release from the company.
Per usual, the NTSB will lead the investigation into the incident.
The Alaska Department of Transportation posted on its Facebook page only that at approximately 6 o'clock on Thursday evening, it was "notified that a commercial aircraft was off the runway at the Unalaska/Dutch Harbor Airport. DOT&PF Airport Rescue and Fire are responding. The airport is currently closed. At this time we have no additional information."
Numerous pictures posted on social media and sent to KTUU showed the plane off the runway and nose-down, sitting on what looked like a sloped, rocky edge and pointing toward the water.
Alaska Airlines added in a news release Thursday night that PenAir Flight 3296 had 39 passengers and three crew members on board. PenAir operates the Anchorage-Dutch Harbor service for Alaska with a Saab 2000 aircraft.
Alex Russin, superintendent of schools in Cordova, wrote in a social media post that the district's high school swim team and chaperones were on the plane.
Unalaska resident Randy Batten told KTUU he and his wife were walking their dog along the road that runs near the runway when they "saw an approaching plane. It was a little windy but I didn't think it was that bad, for some reason he aborted his first attempt to land and flew over us to come around again to make another attempt."
Batten said he and his wife then drove the short distance to their home, which overlooks at the airport. They arrived home just as the crash happened.
"We heard a screech of rubber and a bunch of scrapping of metal and we knew right away it was probably that plane that we had seen do the flyover on the first attempt."
The representative for PenAir said the airline has established a family assistance line for everyone who has loved ones on the flight. That can be accessed by dialing 1-800-757-4784.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.ktuu.com
Updated 10/18/19 at 3:40 a.m.
Two passengers were critically injured — and 10 others received some level of medical attention — after a PenAir airplane arriving from Anchorage went off the runway at Unalaska's airport on Thursday evening, according to PenAir officials.
"PenAir Flight 3286 (marketed by Alaska Airlines) departed Anchorage for Dutch Harbor and upon landing at approximately 5:40 p.m. went off the end of the runway," said a PenAir statement released around 11 p.m. "We have been informed that two passengers were critically injured and ten others are receiving medical care in Unalaska. All others passengers are being cared for."
There were 39 passengers and three crew members on the flight, according to PenAir.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our passengers and crew, and the family members of everyone with loved ones on this flight," said PenAir CEO Dave Pflieger in the statement.
PenAir officials said the airline, which is owned by Ravn Air Group, "is in close contact and fully cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which will be investigating this accident."
NTSB spokesperson Keith Holloway confirmed the inquiry in an email, sharing a Twitter post by the agency: "NTSB sending team of 9 to Unalaska, AK to investigate Oct. 17, 2019, accident involving Peninsula Air #3296, Saab SB20, that overran runway on landing."
"The team's exact arrival [date] is unknown at this time," added Holloway.
Airline officials also said: "PenAir and Ravn have established a family assistance line for everyone who has loved ones on this flight. Please call 1-800-757-4784 if you need any additional information."
Earlier story, updated at 10/17/19 at 10:50 p.m.
Multiple passenger injuries were reported after a PenAir airplane arriving from Anchorage went off the runway at Unalaska's airport on Thursday evening.
The extent of those injuries was unclear, as was the reason the Saab 2000 did not stop at the end of the runway.
As police officers, fire personnel, and emergency medical service providers responded to the scene, Interim Police Chief John Lucking declined to answer questions while the response was underway. But when Mayor Frank Kelty asked him if there were any casualties, Lucking said "no" shortly after 6 p.m.
An ambulance was seen leaving the airport for the clinic with its lights flashing at 6 p.m. Then, between 6 and 6:40 p.m., three more people were taken out of the airport on stretchers and away in ambulances. All three of those people were conscious and sitting upright, with at least one holding an ice pack.
City Manager Erin Reinders was at the airport when the Thursday evening flight arrived, carrying 39 passengers and three crew members. She said the plane came from the west side of Mount Ballyhoo, which stands above the runway with water on either side.
"We watched one [landing] attempt, and it was going with the wind, [approaching] from the Hog Island side," said Reinders. "Then it went back up [for] a second attempt. It went with the wind again. It did land, so all the wheels were on the ground. And then it wasn't stopping. It was slowing down, and it was apparent that it was slowing down, but it wasn't stopping."
While the plane appeared to slow down as it traveled the length of the runway, it didn't come to a stop until its nose tipped over the edge of a rocky embankment just above the waters of Iliuliuk Bay, near the intersection of Airport Beach and Ballyhoo Roads.
"I don't know if it was coming [too] fast or if it wasn't able to break or if there was a gust," said Reinders. "That stuff — it wasn't readily apparent."
Reinders said all passengers and airline crew on the flight manifest were accounted for, according to a report by first responders.
As a coach for Unalaska's school swim team and leader at the United Methodist Church, Reinders was at the airport to welcome the flight, which brought Cordova's swim team for a meet, as well as speaker Heath Day, who's scheduled to lead a teen workshop at the church on Saturday.
She said responders had confirmed that Day and all of the visiting students and chaperones were physically safe, though shaken.
A spokesperson for PenAir and Ravn Air Group, which bought PenAir in 2018, declined to comment when reached by phone on Thursday around 9:10 p.m.
"We don't have anything to release at this time," said spokesperson Debbie Reinwand. "I'm working with the Ravn emergency operations center right now."
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating what happened.
"We are currently gathering information about the accident and should have more information [in the] morning," said NTSB spokesperson Keith Holloway in an email around 10:30 p.m.
A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to KUCB's request for comment on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, three passengers on the flight told KUCB that there was intense turbulence as they approached Unalaska and that the plane seemed to be moving very fast. Asked if the pilots made any announcements at that time, one passenger said they did not.
Kelty said he saw the pilots apparently unharmed and outside of the airport after the landing. He said they went to the police station to give interviews to the authorities.
The extent of damage to the PenAir plane is also unclear. Some photographs circulating on social media showed an apparent dent and broken window on the Saab 2000's left side.
Unalaska's Department of Public Safety announced the closure of roads near the plane in an announcement released at 6:09 p.m. The notice asked the community to avoid the area along Airport Beach Road between Delta Way and Tundra Drive.
The department also asked the community to avoid using cell phones while the response was underway.
"Public Safety is currently responding to an emergent incident and phone lines need to be cleared during such," said another announcement released at 5:24 p.m. "We ask for your cooperation during this time."
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.kucb.org
Jay Hebert is a Bering Sea skipper trying to get a group of king crab fishermen out of Unalaska’s flight-dependent port of Dutch Harbor, where a fatal plane crash suspended regular air service this month.
They’ve agreed to pay $15,000 for eight seats on a flight he chartered, Hebert says. “That’s how desperate it is.”
City officials in Unalaska on Tuesday declared a local emergency and asked for permission to organize three round-trip charters a week given the lack of a “fixed, known date” that regular air service will return and the likelihood the community will be without it until at least Nov. 8.
Regular air service between Unalaska and Anchorage was suspended after the October 17th crash of a Saab 2000 twin-engine turboprop operated by Ravn Air Group at Unalaska’s airport two weeks ago. The plane overran the runway, killing a Washington state man. Ten others required medical attention.
The community of more than 4,000 residents sits on an island battered by Aleutian weather about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. With thousands of fishing industry employees trying to get out of Unalaska and processing companies filling charter seats with workers, locals say, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the average Unalaskan to leave.
Residents describe separated families and increasingly urgent medical needs. A few who could afford the up-front payment have started chartering flights and selling seats via social media to provide the community with travel options.
Hebert and his wife paid just under $14,000 to charter a Security Aviation plane for the fishermen Friday. If they can get takers for the Anchorage-Unalaska leg of the run, the per-seat cost will drop. But right now, it pencils out at $1,875 a person though the fishermen will get refunded as people book seats on the Anchorage leg.
The group was "willing to pay any cost to get out of town,” Hebert said Wednesday. “The average person in this community, they can’t afford a thousand-dollar ... a fourteen-hundred dollar ticket.”
Alaska Airlines, which marketed up to three scheduled daily flights, is canceling trips through Nov. 20, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Ravn is continuing to prepare to start new scheduled flights with a de Havilland Dash 8 sometime next week, a Ravn spokeswoman said. “As soon as we are ready to start flights, and we have received (Federal Aviation Administration) approval to add this airport to our operations specifications, we will make an announcement regarding the date service will begin,” the company said in an emailed statement.
The city of Unalaska wants to start organizing its own charters, in part because “the high cost of chartering a flight puts (private charter service) out of reach of persons without the means to charter an entire plane,” according to a resolution approved by the city council Tuesday night.
In order to start, the city needs a waiver to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s public charter operator requirements.
The city wants to sell seats on city-organized charters without markup beyond the basic cost to the city. The council approved spending municipal funds for up to three weeks or until regular air service resumes.
The city manager wasn’t available Wednesday to provide more information about the city’s plans.
There are maybe a half-dozen charters making trips between Anchorage and Unalaska every day, including the 29-seat Dash 8 Ravn is flying. Big seafood processing companies are tying up entire flights, locals say.
There are still charters available outside of that, operators say.
ACE Air Cargo has 16-seat Beech 1900 twin-engine turboprops for anyone who wants to book one — not just big commercial operations like seafood plants, executive vice president Steve Deaton said Wednesday.
“We’ve done two or three already in the past three days of just a guy calling up and saying, ‘I need a plane, I want to get home, and I’m willing to find 10 people,’" Deaton said. “We’re moving, in the last four weeks, hundreds of people in and out of Dutch.”
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.adn.com
Additional Participating Entity:
Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Anchorage, Alaska
Location: Unalaska, AK
Accident Number: DCA20MA002
Date & Time: 10/17/2019, 1740 AKD
Registration: N686PA
Aircraft: Saab 2000
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious, 3 Minor, 37 None
Flight Conducted Under: Part 121: Air Carrier - Scheduled
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 and Owner/Operator Information
Aircraft Make: Saab
Registration: N686PA
Model/Series: 2000 No Series
Aircraft Category: Airplane
Amateur Built: No
Operator: Peninsula Aviation Services Inc
Operating Certificate(s) Held: Flag carrier (121); Supplemental
Operator Does Business As: PenAir
Operator Designator Code: PNSA
Meteorological Information and Flight Plan
Conditions at Accident Site: Visual Conditions
Condition of Light: Day
Observation Facility, Elevation:
Observation Time:
Distance from Accident Site:
Temperature/Dew Point: 6°C / 2°C
Lowest Cloud Condition: Unknown
Wind Speed/Gusts, Direction:
Lowest Ceiling: Broken / 3900 ft agl
Visibility:
Altimeter Setting: 29.52 inches Hg
Type of Flight Plan Filed: IFR
Departure Point: Anchorage, AK (ANC)
Destination: Unalaska, AK (PADU)
Wreckage and Impact Information
Crew Injuries: 3 None
Aircraft Damage: Substantial
Passenger Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious, 3 Minor, 34 None
Aircraft Fire: None
Ground Injuries: N/A
Aircraft Explosion: None
Total Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Serious, 3 Minor, 37 None
Latitude, Longitude:
David Allan Oltman
David Allan Oltman died unexpectedly in Dutch Harbor, Alaska on Oct. 17 at the age of 38.
David is survived by his parents, Leo and Diana Oltman of Ellensburg, WA; wife, Erin, and their children, Reece and Evan of Wenatchee, WA; siblings, Scott Oltman of Ellensburg, WA and Leanne Semprimoznik of Spokane, WA.
David was born July 14, 1981 in Yakima, WA. He graduated from Ellensburg High School in 2000, and later received a Bachelor of Science in Information Technology and Retail Management at Central Washington University.
David first met his wife Erin in 2000 and began dating in 2003. In 2010, David and Erin were married and settled in Wenatchee, WA. The Oltman's children are Reece (age 6) and Evan (age 3).
Called "David of all trades," David was known for his wide repertoire of skills. His work history included construction, orthopedic implant representative, technology plant manager at Jeld Wen, Mission Ridge Ski Patrol, Chelan County fire recruit, commercial fisherman, and most recently the owner of BKR Construction Services.
His family and friends recognized him as a "master of play." He worked hard to play hard. He enjoyed fishing, biking, skiing, camping, paddle boarding, water skiing, dirt biking, and hunting.
David was the backbone of his family whom he loved and adored. He strove to be the absolute best for his family, for which he was always the driving force. David had a knack for conversation. He was able to make a connection with anyone. This contributed to his success professionally and why so many have fond memories of and with David. David was loved by so many from all walks of life. His ability to fit into any environment is why he impacted so many people.
A Celebration of Life is scheduled for Sunday, Oct, 27, 2019 at the Mission Ridge Lodge from 1 to 4 p.m. Friends and family members are welcome to attend and celebrate David's life. Please wear your Xtratufs, Sorels, or Bogs as there is snow on the ground. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Mission Ridge Avalanche Control at https://www.missionridge.com.
Condolences can be sent to https://www.jonesjonesbetts.com.
The family would like to specifically thank the Mission Ridge family, the Paton Family, the Roberts Family, the Garlini Family, and Saddlerock Brewery.
This picture shows the area where a propeller on the Saab 2000 punctured the Peninsula Airways aircraft, killing David Oltman of Wenatchee, Washington.
Regular flights to and from Unalaska, a place that relies on air travel, are suspended in the aftermath of a fatal commercial plane crash on Thursday that killed a Washington state man.
The cessation of regular service left travelers stranded or scrambling for charter flights even as demand for seats spiked with Bering Sea crabbers headed out for the season opener.
Alaska Airlines markets two or three flights a day from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, an airport notorious for temperamental Aleutian weather at a runway hemmed in by water.
Alaska Airlines and PenAir, a Ravn Air Group carrier, are temporarily stopping operations to and from Dutch Harbor in “the interest of safety” and “are working together to determine a timeline for resuming service,” according to an Alaska Airlines statement. Alaska markets the flight as PenAir, but that company was purchased by a Ravn affiliate in bankruptcy proceedings last year.
Alaska is offering a full refund to people who bought tickets on the route through Oct. 28. An Alaska Airlines spokesman said that doesn’t mean service will be suspended through that date.
A Ravn spokeswoman referred all questions to Alaska Airlines.
The crash occurred Thursday afternoon when a plane landing with 39 passengers and three crew from Anchorage ran off the end of the runway on the pilot’s second attempt to touch down. The Saab 2000 twin-engine turboprop came to a stop with its nose hanging over the edge of a rocky embankment at the water’s edge. Parts of a propeller blade ended up in the cabin.
Traumatic injuries killed Wenatchee resident 38-year-old David Allan Oltman. People in Unalaska say Oltman’s construction job brought him there fairly regularly.
Another critically injured passenger was flown to Anchorage. Nine more people got hurt, including at least one member of Cordova’s high school swim team who needed a trip to Anchorage for metal embedded in his leg. The rest of the team returned home Friday.
An 8-member National Transportation Safety Board team is in Unalaska investigating the crash, according to the agency’s Alaska chief, Clint Johnson. A barge brought the plane to another site at the airport for inspection. The cockpit recorders yielded good recordings, Johnson said.
It wasn’t the NTSB’s decision to suspend air service, which falls outside that agency’s authority, he said.
The disruption to air service stranded some either in Unalaska or on their way back.
Don Goodfellow’s quality control manager at Alyeska Seafoods Inc. was stuck in Portland as of Tuesday. Another of his employees couldn’t rotate out for vacation and was helping with maintenance between pollock and crab processing seasons.
The next pulse in demand for air travel could come within a few days, Goodfellow said, when crab fishermen get a break between seasons and will want to go home.
“I’m expecting my dock will be very full of very frustrated fishermen if we don’t get service restored pretty soon,” he said.
Several companies provide charter service to the area: flights booked by a single entity, like a seafood processor, instead of seat by seat.
Alaska Central Express on Tuesday was sending two charters to Unalaska and two to Akun Island, the closest place to get a boat or smaller plane over to Dutch Harbor, according to Steven Deaton, senior vice president.
But getting one of 16 seats on the company’s Beechcraft 1900 isn’t as easy as booking a ticket online.
“Thing is, they’re trying to buy one seat,” customer service representative Alicia Tufaga said Tuesday. “We don’t do that, we don’t sell individual seats. People are trying to get on the charter but they have to contact the people who chartered the plane.”
Grant Aviation doesn’t provide scheduled service between Anchorage and Unalaska. But some travelers booked flights from Unalaska to Saint Paul Island where they could catch a Ravn flight to Anchorage, according to Grant’s station manager in Unalaska.
Flying challenges are familiar in the Aleutians, longtime Unalaska resident Suzi Golodoff said Tuesday, reporting “crappy visibility” and a nasty cross-wind near the airport.
The current situation is causing residents to cancel medical appointments and planned trips but at the same time, it’s not unusual to go for days without getting out, Golodoff said.
“The bigger thing is people are badly shaken and really feeling tender about what happened,” she said. “It was really a horrible thing to see that plane over the embankment like that.”
https://www.adn.com
The Alaska State Troopers identified the victim as David Allan Oltman, 38, of Washington state, according to Associated Press reports. Oltman died Thursday night, PenAir announced in a Friday, Oct. 18 statement.
The accident took place when a plane attempting to land slid partway off a runway at Unalaska’s Tom Madsen Airport, also known as Dutch Harbor Airport. Alaska Airlines flight 3296, operated by PenAir from Anchorage to Dutch Harbor, was also carrying the Cordova Jr./Sr. High School swim team.
“On behalf of PenAir, Ravn Air Group and all our employees throughout the company, we would like to extend our deepest sympathies and condolences to the family and loved ones of our passenger who passed away,” said Ravn Air Group President Dave Pflieger in a statement.
The accident took place at 5:40 p.m., according to a report from Alaska Airlines. In photos of the accident, the Saab 2000 twin engine turboprop plane is seen with its nose hanging off a shallow embankment over water about 500 feet from the airport. The aircraft carried 39 passengers and three crew members, according to the report.
The aircraft was apparently forced beyond its planned landing area by high winds, said an eyewitness quoted in an Associated Press reports. However, the conditions leading to the accident remain undetermined, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Allen Kenitzer, the Associated Press reports.
Initial reports from Cordova School District seemingly indicated that none of the 10 students on board, or their coaches or chaperones, had been harmed. However, student Charlie Carroll, 16, had a piece of metal embedded in his left leg during the crash, said Charlie’s mother Lisa Carroll. Charlie Carroll also told his mother that the passenger sitting next to him had broken his leg, she said. Charlie Carroll is planned to be flown to Anchorage for treatment, his mother said.
Two passengers had been critically injured in the incident, and another 10 were receiving medical care in Unalaska, announced Debbie Reinwand, a spokesperson for Ravn Air Group, which owns PenAir, in a statement Thursday evening.
PenAir is cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board, which will be investigating this accident, Reinwand said. The NTSB had dispatched a team of nine investigators to the site, the agency announced via Twitter on Friday.
PenAir and Ravn Air Group have established a family assistance line for anyone with loved ones aboard the flight, at 1-800-757-4784.
Reported earlier:
A PenAir plane carrying the Cordova Jr./Sr. High School swim team slid partway off a runway at an Unalaska airport on the evening of Thursday, Oct. 17. The approximately 10 students on board, as well as their chaperones and coaches, were unharmed in the accident, said Cordova School District Superintendent Alex Russin.
The incident occurred around 6:11 p.m. at Tom Madsen Airport, also known as Dutch Harbor Airport. In photos of the accident, the aircraft is seen with its nose hanging off a shallow ledge over water.
Within an hour of the accident, the members of the swim team had been reassembled and were eating pizza, wrote Russin in an email announcement. Unalaska School District Superintendent John P. Conwell confirmed that the students were all accounted for and seemed fine, Russin wrote.
Eyewitnesses said that the other passengers also appeared largely unharmed, although some passengers were transported from the airport in an ambulance, according to an Associated Press report.
“The Unalaska School District is taking care of our students to the best of their ability,” Russin said. “They are safe and secure and our thoughts and prayers go out to everybody involved… The students and chaperones are accounted for — a bit shaken, but safe.”
Original article ➤ https://www.thecordovatimes.com
A 38-year-old man from Washington state died when a PenAir plane went off the end of the runway Thursday afternoon at Unalaska’s airport, officials say.
David Allan Oltman died of “traumatic injuries suffered in the crash,” according to updates Friday morning from Unalaska officials and Alaska State Troopers. Another critically injured passenger was flown to Anchorage. Nine others were also hurt, according to the city’s Department of Public Safety. Responders had to extricate one patient and evacuated the others.
The Alaska Airlines flight carrying 42 people was operated by Peninsula Airways, or PenAir. Cordova’s high school swim team was on the plane, which left Anchorage at 3:15 p.m.
Oltman died Thursday night, according to a statement from RavnAir Group, which owns PenAir. RavnAir president Dave Pflieger extended “deepest sympathies and condolences” to his family and loved ones.
“Our entire team is devastated by this tragic incident,” Pflieger said.
Authorities say it’s not yet clear what happened to cause the Saab 2000 plane to go off the end of the runway, coming to a stop just short of the water with its nose hanging over an embankment. The airport is notoriously challenging due to topography and winds.
The plane crashed at around 5:45 p.m. after a missed approach on the first attempt to land, according to preliminary information from Clint Johnson, Alaska chief for the National Transportation Safety Board.
“The accident happened on the second landing attempt," Johnson said.
Local officials said the swim team members were all unhurt, but the mother of one said a piece of metal was embedded in his leg and the person next to him suffered a broken leg, according to a report in The Cordova Times.
Her 16-year-old son is staying in Unalaska until Sunday, when he’s supposed to fly to Anchorage, Lisa Carroll said. She and his father will meet him at the airport and he’ll get the piece of metal removed from the soft tissue of his leg Monday.
“He’s fine but shaken,” Carroll wrote in an email Friday. “I’m just thankful for all the emergency responders and citizens of Unalaska who responded to the scene ... As a parent I am shaken, but again God is good and I’m glad there were boots on the ground taking care of all the injured. My thoughts and prayers go out to all involved.”
The Unalaska Fire Department arrived about five minutes after the crash and transported seven patients to the Iliuliuk Clinic and four others were brought to the clinic by personal vehicle, according to the public safety update. Injuries ranged from minor to critical.
A major investigations team of eight or nine people from the NTSB was expected to leave Washington, D.C., for Anchorage on Friday morning. Some members will continue to Dutch Harbor on Saturday. The investigation is being run from the agency’s headquarters because it involves a commuter air carrier and someone died in the crash, Johnson said. An Anchorage-based investigator is on the team, which also includes experts in airworthiness and operations as well as John Lovell, the the investigator in charge.
The runway is shut down until further notice, local officials say. Law enforcement has secured the scene pending the arrival of the federal investigators. The plane may still pose safety risks so officials are asking the public is asked to stay away from the area.
PenAir and Ravn are fully cooperating with the NTSB, according to a statement sent through a public-relations firm representing the airline. PenAir and Ravn have established a family assistance line at 1-800-757-4784.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.adn.com
ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - UPDATE, 10/18/19 5:35 a.m.:
The National Transportation Safety Board says it is sending a team of nine to Unalaska to investigate the crash.
According to the Associated Press, the plane was carrying 42 people.
UPDATE, 11:05 p.m.: Two people were critically injured when a commercial plane went off the runway at the Unalaska Airport on Thursday evening, with the aircraft left teetering over a bank toward a nearby body of water.
In a news release late Thursday night, a representative for the public relations firm representing PenAir wrote that the company had "been informed that two passengers were critically injured and ten others are receiving medical care in Unalaska. All other passengers are being cared for."
The release went on to include a message from company CEO Dave Pflieger.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our passengers and crew, and the family members of everyone with loved ones on this flight,” he said.
Clint Johnson of the National Transportation Safety Board said early Thursday evening that details of the incident were still being worked out.
"We've got a major investigation going here," he said, "and there's all sorts of rumors going around. We're trying to get an investigator down, and the rest of the team will be coming from Washington, D.C."
PenAir, which is owned by Ravn Air Group, is in close contact and fully cooperating with the NTSB, according to the release from the company.
Per usual, the NTSB will lead the investigation into the incident.
The Alaska Department of Transportation posted on its Facebook page only that at approximately 6 o'clock on Thursday evening, it was "notified that a commercial aircraft was off the runway at the Unalaska/Dutch Harbor Airport. DOT&PF Airport Rescue and Fire are responding. The airport is currently closed. At this time we have no additional information."
Numerous pictures posted on social media and sent to KTUU showed the plane off the runway and nose-down, sitting on what looked like a sloped, rocky edge and pointing toward the water.
Alaska Airlines added in a news release Thursday night that PenAir Flight 3296 had 39 passengers and three crew members on board. PenAir operates the Anchorage-Dutch Harbor service for Alaska with a Saab 2000 aircraft.
Alex Russin, superintendent of schools in Cordova, wrote in a social media post that the district's high school swim team and chaperones were on the plane.
Unalaska resident Randy Batten told KTUU he and his wife were walking their dog along the road that runs near the runway when they "saw an approaching plane. It was a little windy but I didn't think it was that bad, for some reason he aborted his first attempt to land and flew over us to come around again to make another attempt."
Batten said he and his wife then drove the short distance to their home, which overlooks at the airport. They arrived home just as the crash happened.
"We heard a screech of rubber and a bunch of scrapping of metal and we knew right away it was probably that plane that we had seen do the flyover on the first attempt."
The representative for PenAir said the airline has established a family assistance line for everyone who has loved ones on the flight. That can be accessed by dialing 1-800-757-4784.
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.ktuu.com
Two passengers were critically injured — and 10 others received some level of medical attention — after a PenAir airplane arriving from Anchorage went off the runway at Unalaska's airport on Thursday evening, according to PenAir officials.
"PenAir Flight 3286 (marketed by Alaska Airlines) departed Anchorage for Dutch Harbor and upon landing at approximately 5:40 p.m. went off the end of the runway," said a PenAir statement released around 11 p.m. "We have been informed that two passengers were critically injured and ten others are receiving medical care in Unalaska. All others passengers are being cared for."
There were 39 passengers and three crew members on the flight, according to PenAir.
"Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of our passengers and crew, and the family members of everyone with loved ones on this flight," said PenAir CEO Dave Pflieger in the statement.
PenAir officials said the airline, which is owned by Ravn Air Group, "is in close contact and fully cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), which will be investigating this accident."
NTSB spokesperson Keith Holloway confirmed the inquiry in an email, sharing a Twitter post by the agency: "NTSB sending team of 9 to Unalaska, AK to investigate Oct. 17, 2019, accident involving Peninsula Air #3296, Saab SB20, that overran runway on landing."
"The team's exact arrival [date] is unknown at this time," added Holloway.
Airline officials also said: "PenAir and Ravn have established a family assistance line for everyone who has loved ones on this flight. Please call 1-800-757-4784 if you need any additional information."
Earlier story, updated at 10/17/19 at 10:50 p.m.
Multiple passenger injuries were reported after a PenAir airplane arriving from Anchorage went off the runway at Unalaska's airport on Thursday evening.
The extent of those injuries was unclear, as was the reason the Saab 2000 did not stop at the end of the runway.
As police officers, fire personnel, and emergency medical service providers responded to the scene, Interim Police Chief John Lucking declined to answer questions while the response was underway. But when Mayor Frank Kelty asked him if there were any casualties, Lucking said "no" shortly after 6 p.m.
An ambulance was seen leaving the airport for the clinic with its lights flashing at 6 p.m. Then, between 6 and 6:40 p.m., three more people were taken out of the airport on stretchers and away in ambulances. All three of those people were conscious and sitting upright, with at least one holding an ice pack.
City Manager Erin Reinders was at the airport when the Thursday evening flight arrived, carrying 39 passengers and three crew members. She said the plane came from the west side of Mount Ballyhoo, which stands above the runway with water on either side.
"We watched one [landing] attempt, and it was going with the wind, [approaching] from the Hog Island side," said Reinders. "Then it went back up [for] a second attempt. It went with the wind again. It did land, so all the wheels were on the ground. And then it wasn't stopping. It was slowing down, and it was apparent that it was slowing down, but it wasn't stopping."
While the plane appeared to slow down as it traveled the length of the runway, it didn't come to a stop until its nose tipped over the edge of a rocky embankment just above the waters of Iliuliuk Bay, near the intersection of Airport Beach and Ballyhoo Roads.
"I don't know if it was coming [too] fast or if it wasn't able to break or if there was a gust," said Reinders. "That stuff — it wasn't readily apparent."
Reinders said all passengers and airline crew on the flight manifest were accounted for, according to a report by first responders.
As a coach for Unalaska's school swim team and leader at the United Methodist Church, Reinders was at the airport to welcome the flight, which brought Cordova's swim team for a meet, as well as speaker Heath Day, who's scheduled to lead a teen workshop at the church on Saturday.
She said responders had confirmed that Day and all of the visiting students and chaperones were physically safe, though shaken.
A spokesperson for PenAir and Ravn Air Group, which bought PenAir in 2018, declined to comment when reached by phone on Thursday around 9:10 p.m.
"We don't have anything to release at this time," said spokesperson Debbie Reinwand. "I'm working with the Ravn emergency operations center right now."
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating what happened.
"We are currently gathering information about the accident and should have more information [in the] morning," said NTSB spokesperson Keith Holloway in an email around 10:30 p.m.
A spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to KUCB's request for comment on Thursday night.
Meanwhile, three passengers on the flight told KUCB that there was intense turbulence as they approached Unalaska and that the plane seemed to be moving very fast. Asked if the pilots made any announcements at that time, one passenger said they did not.
Kelty said he saw the pilots apparently unharmed and outside of the airport after the landing. He said they went to the police station to give interviews to the authorities.
The extent of damage to the PenAir plane is also unclear. Some photographs circulating on social media showed an apparent dent and broken window on the Saab 2000's left side.
Unalaska's Department of Public Safety announced the closure of roads near the plane in an announcement released at 6:09 p.m. The notice asked the community to avoid the area along Airport Beach Road between Delta Way and Tundra Drive.
The department also asked the community to avoid using cell phones while the response was underway.
"Public Safety is currently responding to an emergent incident and phone lines need to be cleared during such," said another announcement released at 5:24 p.m. "We ask for your cooperation during this time."
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.kucb.org
Jay Hebert is a Bering Sea skipper trying to get a group of king crab fishermen out of Unalaska’s flight-dependent port of Dutch Harbor, where a fatal plane crash suspended regular air service this month.
They’ve agreed to pay $15,000 for eight seats on a flight he chartered, Hebert says. “That’s how desperate it is.”
City officials in Unalaska on Tuesday declared a local emergency and asked for permission to organize three round-trip charters a week given the lack of a “fixed, known date” that regular air service will return and the likelihood the community will be without it until at least Nov. 8.
Regular air service between Unalaska and Anchorage was suspended after the October 17th crash of a Saab 2000 twin-engine turboprop operated by Ravn Air Group at Unalaska’s airport two weeks ago. The plane overran the runway, killing a Washington state man. Ten others required medical attention.
The community of more than 4,000 residents sits on an island battered by Aleutian weather about 800 miles southwest of Anchorage. With thousands of fishing industry employees trying to get out of Unalaska and processing companies filling charter seats with workers, locals say, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for the average Unalaskan to leave.
Residents describe separated families and increasingly urgent medical needs. A few who could afford the up-front payment have started chartering flights and selling seats via social media to provide the community with travel options.
Hebert and his wife paid just under $14,000 to charter a Security Aviation plane for the fishermen Friday. If they can get takers for the Anchorage-Unalaska leg of the run, the per-seat cost will drop. But right now, it pencils out at $1,875 a person though the fishermen will get refunded as people book seats on the Anchorage leg.
The group was "willing to pay any cost to get out of town,” Hebert said Wednesday. “The average person in this community, they can’t afford a thousand-dollar ... a fourteen-hundred dollar ticket.”
Alaska Airlines, which marketed up to three scheduled daily flights, is canceling trips through Nov. 20, a spokesman said Wednesday.
Ravn is continuing to prepare to start new scheduled flights with a de Havilland Dash 8 sometime next week, a Ravn spokeswoman said. “As soon as we are ready to start flights, and we have received (Federal Aviation Administration) approval to add this airport to our operations specifications, we will make an announcement regarding the date service will begin,” the company said in an emailed statement.
The city of Unalaska wants to start organizing its own charters, in part because “the high cost of chartering a flight puts (private charter service) out of reach of persons without the means to charter an entire plane,” according to a resolution approved by the city council Tuesday night.
In order to start, the city needs a waiver to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s public charter operator requirements.
The city wants to sell seats on city-organized charters without markup beyond the basic cost to the city. The council approved spending municipal funds for up to three weeks or until regular air service resumes.
The city manager wasn’t available Wednesday to provide more information about the city’s plans.
There are maybe a half-dozen charters making trips between Anchorage and Unalaska every day, including the 29-seat Dash 8 Ravn is flying. Big seafood processing companies are tying up entire flights, locals say.
There are still charters available outside of that, operators say.
ACE Air Cargo has 16-seat Beech 1900 twin-engine turboprops for anyone who wants to book one — not just big commercial operations like seafood plants, executive vice president Steve Deaton said Wednesday.
“We’ve done two or three already in the past three days of just a guy calling up and saying, ‘I need a plane, I want to get home, and I’m willing to find 10 people,’" Deaton said. “We’re moving, in the last four weeks, hundreds of people in and out of Dutch.”
Original article can be found here ➤ https://www.adn.com
ASN contains METAR info showing winds from 300 at 21 gusting to 27, and says the aircraft landed on runway 13. It's very curious that a professional crew would land downwind in such a situation.
ReplyDeletehttps://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20191017-0
Date: Thursday 17 October 2019
Time: 17:40
A Saab 2000, registered N686PA, was substantially damaged when it experienced a runway excursion after landing on runway 13 at Unalaska Airport, Alaska.
01:56 UTC / 17:56 local time:
PADU 180156Z 30021G27KT 5SM -RA BKN039 06/02 A2953 RMK AO2 PK WND 30027/0154 RAB41 SLP004 P0002 T00560017
Looks like three of the six prop blades on the left engine hit the rocks, broke off, and at least one penetrated the fuselage. Specifically right at the fifth window behind the entry door of the left side of the fuselage behind the entry door. It aligns with the prop arc. Tragic accident. I've never been comfortable as a passenger sitting in alignment to a spinning blade, either prop or the front blade of a fanjet.
ReplyDelete"It's very curious that a professional crew would land downwind in such a situation." They were probably on the RNAV to 13 because it's almost straight in and easier, but it's a circling approach and either runway would have been OK (assuming the METAR was correct). Definitely curious.
ReplyDeleteThat plane needs 4100 feet on a normal standard day to land. Max tailwind component for the Saab 340 is 10kts and Id assume the 2000 is the same so they definitely should've tried a visual to 31 or the alt since they had 5 miles of vis, 4000 BKN and a 4500 ft runway. Someone is in trouble for sure. Ive never landed there, unsure about the terrain or anything else, but I can see that 27kts of tailwind probably wouldn't work even if he had a drag chute! Everyone screws up eventually. Wish the best for all.
Notice the king air landing on the opposite runway?
ReplyDeleteWow... especially for a Part 121/135....
ReplyDelete"You can always go around..."
Eye witness:
ReplyDelete"We watched one [landing] attempt, and it was going with the wind, [approaching] from the Hog Island side," said Reinders. "Then it went back up [for] a second attempt. It went with the wind again. It did land, so all the wheels were on the ground. And then it wasn't stopping. It was slowing down, and it was apparent that it was slowing down, but it wasn't stopping."
For me it is a criminal act to intentionally land a Saab 2000 on a short runway with this tailwind.
So much for 121 running the landing data. The highest tailwind I have seen for 121 is 15 knots.
ReplyDeleteRIP to the passenger lost.
" With regard to shielding the fuselage, the FAA agrees with the Board's position that the extensive cabin shielding needed to protect persons from separated propellers would incur prohibitive weight penalties. Even if sufficient shielding could be provided, it would provide no protection from catastrophic structural failure due to the unbalance created by the remaining blades. Even though it would be technically feasible to prohibit the installation of seats from the areas likely to be damaged by a propeller separation for the smaller transport category airplanes currently in production and in service, there is no place to relocate the seats." https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.recsearch/Recommendation.aspx?Rec=A-87-001
ReplyDelete- The part 135 learjet in Terrerboro flown by 2 hoodlooms with a vocabulary half filled with expletives unable to do a basic circling approach and destroying a multimillion $$$ machine and killing themselves.
ReplyDelete- The bedford, MA crash that took the life of billionaire Lewis Katz flown by 2 complacent idiots who didn't do basic preflight checks on 98% of their takeoffs and didn't realize they had the gust locks engaged taking off until it was too late, and disconnected hydraulics (hint: They also control the reverse trusters!) to try to disengage it which was the absolutely idiotic thing to do.
- And it looks like here some very complacent pilot decided to to a 27 kn tailwind landing on a very short runway, because it would save them the trouble of an extra minute of circling it.
And I could go on...
No amount of regulations, failsafes and checkrides will fix stupid. And stupid means death in Aviation. This is why it is critical CFIs training a first student wean out the complacent and lazy ones, or those who are into it for the "prestige" and to "show off to friends", etc...
@ MarcPilot :
ReplyDeleteIf you weed out "...those who are into it for the "prestige" and to "show off to friends", etc..." - you aren't going to have many left.