Accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan N12373,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 320633

Date:	Friday 29 November 2013
Time:	18:24
Type:	Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Owner/operator:	Era Alaska
Registration:	N12373
MSN:	208B0697
Year of manufacture:	1998
Total airframe hrs:	12653 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 10
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	1,6 km SE of Saint Mary's Airport, AK (KSM) - United States of America
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Scheduled
Departure airport:	Bethel Airport, AK (BET/PABE)
Destination airport:	Saint Mary's Airport, AK (KSM/PASM)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan operated by Era Alaska crashed near Saint Mary's Airport, Alaska. The pilot and three passengers were killed in the accident. Six passengers sustained serious injuries.
The airplane operated flight 7H-1453 from Bethel were it took off at 17:41. The flight was planned to make an intermediate stop at Mountain Village, but did not land there due to deteriorating weather. Night, instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) prevailed at the St. Mary's airport at the time of the accident.
The airplane was seen to overfly the airport at low altitude. Shortly afterwards the flight impacted an open area of snow-covered tundra.

About 8 minutes before the accident, at 18:16, a weather report indicated: Wind, 230 degrees at 7 knots; visibility, 3 statute miles; overcast at 300 feet above ground level; temperature, 18 degrees F (-7,8 degrees C); altimeter, 30.01 inches Hg.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The pilot's decision to initiate a visual flight rules approach into an area of instrument meteorological conditions at night and the flight coordinators' release of the flight without discussing the risks with the pilot, which resulted in the pilot experiencing a loss of situational awareness and subsequent controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident were the operator's inadequate procedures for operational control and flight release and its inadequate training and oversight of operational control personnel. Also contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to hold the operator accountable for correcting known operational deficiencies and ensuring compliance with its operational control procedures."

Accident investigation: