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Three different ways to crash a Caravan
On August 31st 1994, a
wheel equipped Cessna Caravan owned by Alaska Island Air, of Kotzebue Alaska,
dragged a wing while attempting to land at Cape Sabine Alaska.
According to the pilots statement, he was landing at Cape Sabine and there was a
15 knot crosswind. He applied full flaps on short final and "about 200 feet
down the runway I experienced a wind shear and the right wing stalled. There
was no indication prior to the wing stalling and the stall warning horn sounded
just as the wing stalled due to the shear. The right wing was already low for
the crosswind correction, it dropped away and made contact with the runway.
During a telephone conversation with the owner of the air service, he stated
that there was no one else on board the airplane and the pilot only dragged the
wing on the runway, "dinged the right wing", and that the airplane was still
flyable.
Mr. Bruce A. Ream who was a passenger on the flight, stated that they departed
Kotzebue and climbed to 9,500 feet, passing through some icing conditions. He
said he was holding a hand held GPS unit for the pilot so the pilot could
navigate using the GPS.
Here is an account of what happened in the passengers own words. "I believe that
we descended over the ocean northwest of Point Lay about 6:15pm, leveling out
at about 750 ft just beneath the clouds. Flew eastward until we saw the coast
off the starboard side, circled back and followed the coastline to the southwest
staying about one-quarter mile off shore. Distance and direction to Cape Sabine
were provided by the GPS. The pilot saw the airport off to starboard and made a
sharp banking turn to the right. The plane began to settle and banked more
steeply. I believe the pilot applied power at this point and attempted to level
the plane, but I was watching the ground come up at this point. We were
crossing the airstrip at about a 45-degree angle (northwest), heading back out
to sea. I felt the plane strike the ground hard and bounce back into the air.
My first impression was that the plane was struggling to fly and we would
pancake onto the tundra between the airstrip and the bluff. As we passed the
bluff the nose pitched down then up. We started to climb and started to execute
a slow turn to the left back towards land. The plane was flying irregularly and
I observed that the pilot was fighting the controls. It was at this point that
I looked for wing damage, but couldn't see past the radar pod. The pilot stated
that we needed to land the plane right away. We completed the turn west of the
runway and tried to make an approach from that end, but couldn't get the plane
to line up or stay level. My impression is that we were all over the sky at
that point. He (the pilot) was having a difficult time working both the engine
and flight controls by this time. We sank close to the runway, but the plane
turned to the right and dipped at the last moment. The pilot powered up to pull
out of the approach and drifted southward back toward the camp. I was
instructed to get on the controls with the pilot as he was getting tired and
running out of strength. We passed by the camp, gained altitude, and made
another wide left turn over the water. I held the yoke to the left and tried to
help keep the nose level. We came out of the turn northeast of the camp and
drifted diagonally southwest toward the airstrip. The pilot instructed me to
hold the yoke as far left as I could. Using the engine and prop he maneuvered
in low, parallel to the south side of the runway. As soon as we drifted back
over the strip we set down hard, using full reverse prob and brakes to stop."
Well as the
saying goes there are two sides to every story, only this one had three!
The Owner:
"there was no one else on board the airplane and the pilot only dragged the wing
on the runway, "dinged the right wing", and that the airplane was still
flyable".
The Pilot:
"applied full flaps on short final and "about 200 feet down the runway I
experienced a wind shear and the right wing stalled". " it dropped away and
made contact with the runway."
The
Passenger:
"We were crossing the airstrip at about a 45-degree angle"
"I felt the plane strike the ground hard and bounce back into the air."
"The plane was flying irregularly and I observed that the pilot was fighting the
controls".
" we were all over the sky at that point"
"I was instructed to get on the controls with the pilot as he was getting tired
and running out of strength"
But wait!
There's more......
Mr. Ream stated that upon his arrival in Kotzebue, the weather was poor. He
discussed various charter options with Alaska Island Air personnel and was
informed that the Cessna Caravan could fly IFR to Point Lay and get past the bad
weather. BUT......
Alaska
Island Air Does not have an operations specification authorizing IFR operations
in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC).
The passenger stated that they departed Kotzebue and climbed to 9,500 feet,
passing through some icing conditions. He said he was holding a hand held GPS
unit for the pilot so the pilot could navigate using the GPS.
There is no
information in the company manual authorizing the use of GPS as a primary means
for navigation.
In accordance with 14 CFR Part 135, an operator is allowed to fly a single
engine airplane in IMC from his departure point for 15min provided he will reach
visual meteorological conditions within 15min and can proceed to the
destination under VFR.
Mr. Ream
stated they departed Kotzebue (IFR) at 17:15 hours and became VFR at 18:15
hours,
This does not meet the requirements under 14 CFR part 135 which allows IFR
flight for 15min.
THE
END.
(I think my fingers are going to fall off after typing all of that)
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