De Havilland DHC-2 N54LA

Summary

On 19 July 1996 at about 23:30 local time, a De Havilland DHC-2 registered N54LA, operated by Lynden Air Cargo, was involved in an accident near Elfin Cove, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and one died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

19 July 1996 at 23:30

Classification

Accident

Location

Elfin Cove, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

58.1595, -135.7405

Aircraft

De Havilland DHC-2

Registration

N54LA

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Lynden Air Cargo

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Hoonah → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

IMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC96FA101

1 person died.

The pilot's decision to continue VFR flight into instrument meteorological conditions, and his failure to maintain adequate clearance from rising terrain. Factors associated with the accident were the rising terrain and clouds.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot of the air taxi cargo flight departed his base of operations in Juneau, Alaska for a series of flights in southeast Alaska that would ultimately return him to Juneau. On the accident leg of the intended round robin, the pilot was en route from Hoonah to Elfin Cove. The flight would originate and end at sea level, and traverse a mountain pass, with minimum obstruction clearance in the pass estimated at 500 feet msl. The airplane collided with steeply rising terrain at the 1,250-foot level about one mile south of the proposed flight path. The airplane was partially consumed by a postimpact fire. The operator initiated a helicopter search within two hours of the time of the accident. The helicopter pilot and his passenger both reported that the area where the accident airplane was eventually located was obscured in low clouds, and that many of the other valleys and mountainsides were covered in clouds. Low clouds persisted in the area of the crash site for the following two days.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.