Cessna 208A N9316F

Summary

On 30 January 1998 at about 21:00 local time, a Cessna 208A registered N9316F was involved in an accident near Port Heiden, Alaska, United States. One person was on board and one had minor injuries. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

30 January 1998 at 21:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Port Heiden, Alaska, United States

Nearest airport

Port Heiden (PTH)

Coordinates

56.9603, -158.5800

Aircraft

Cessna 208A

Registration

N9316F

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Port Heiden → Chignik

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC98LA018

1 person had minor injuries.

The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision resulting in airframe ice accumulation to the extent that degraded aircraft performance and insufficient airspeed occurred followed by a stall. Contributing factors were freezing rain and icing conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot departed in visual meteorological conditions of three to four miles visibility with high ceilings. He stated the airplane encountered freezing rain about five miles south of the airport while in cruise flight at 1,200 feet msl, and rapidly accumulated ice on the airframe, wings, and windshield. The pilot said he initially changed altitude in an attempt to exit the icing conditions. Ice accumulation continued, so he elected to return. While maneuvering to land at the airport, the airplane was unable to maintain altitude at full engine power. He said that any angle of bank resulted in the onset of prestall buffet, so he decided to land on a frozen lake south of the airport. He said that the airplane did not reach the lake, 'mushed into the ground,' and during the flare/touchdown, the left wing stalled. The pilot did not have access to the official weather prior to departure. The National Weather Service contracted observer, made his observation from a location about five miles south of the official weather station at the airport. The FAA AWOS-3 was inoperative. Examination of the airplane after the accident revealed a 1/2 inch layer of clear ice covering all the upper and lower airfoil surfaces of the airplane, from leading edges to between 1/3 and 1/2 of the chords. All antennas were coated with approximately 1/2 inch of clear ice. The airplane was not equipped with ice protection equipment except for pitot heat and windshield heat.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.