Piper PA-32-301 N8361Q

Summary

On 14 December 2006 at about 22:10 local time, a Piper PA-32-301 registered N8361Q was involved in an accident near Port Heiden, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

14 December 2006 at 22:10

Classification

Accident

Location

Port Heiden, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

57.1764, -158.4167

Aircraft

Piper PA-32-301

Registration

N8361Q

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Port Heiden → Port Heiden

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Night

NTSB number

ANC07FA007

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain control of the airplane during cruise flight, which resulted in an uncontrolled descent, and an in-flight collision with snow-covered terrain. Contributing to the accident were the pilot's spatial disorientation, and dark night conditions.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The commercial pilot departed on a Title 14, CFR Part 135, scheduled passenger flight, returning from a remote coastal village during dark night conditions. The pilot's intended flight route was over remote and unpopulated terrain, with no ground based light sources to provide visual cues. The flight was originally scheduled to depart during daylight hours, but poor weather conditions contributed to its late departure. When the flight did not arrive at its destination, an aerial search was initiated. The airplane's fragmented wreckage was along the pilot's intended route, about 15 miles northeast of the departure airport. The airplane had collided with flat, featureless, snow-covered, terrain. The debris trail measured about 575 feet long. Responding aviation rescue crews reported that due to dark night conditions, along with absence of ground based light sources and the lack of visual cues in the area of the accident site, the use of night vision goggles (NVG) was required to discern topographical features. All of the airplane's major components were located at the main wreckage site, and no preaccident anomalies were noted with the accident airplane. A postaccident review of the pilot's personal flight logbook revealed that the pilot had logged about 322 hours of flight time at night, and all but 32.6 flight hours had been accrued while acting as second-in-command.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.