Status:	Final
Date:	23 JUN 1994
Time:	20:15 ADT
Type:	de Havilland Canada DHC-3 Otter
Operator:	Wings of Alaska
Registration:	N13GA
C/n / msn:	179
First flight:	1956
Total airframe hrs:	7672
Engines:	1 Pratt & Whitney R-1340
Crew:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 1
Passengers:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 10
Total:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 11
Airplane damage:	Substantial
Airplane fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	Taku Inlet, AK (United States of America)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:	Taku Lodge-Taku SPB, AK (TKL), United States of America
Destination airport:	Juneau, AK, United States of America

Narrative:
Five aircraft departed a lodge, one behind the other. Fog and drizzle were encountered, and the pilot of the first aircraft radioed to the pilots of the other aircraft to cross the river to the east shoreline. A passenger in the fourth aircraft (N13GA) stated that when the aircraft was over the middle of the river, she could not see either shore due to fog. The pilot of N13GA (a floatplane) stated that he encountered deteriorating weather & started a descent, intending to make a precautionary landing. He began to level, expecting conditions to improve. Subsequently, the floatplane hit the surface of 'glassy water' and crashed.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "VFR flight by the pilot into instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), and his failure to maintain altitude (clearance) above the surface of the river. Factors related to the accident were: the adverse weather conditions, and the surface condition of the river (glassy water)."

Events:

Sources:
» NTSB