ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 28110
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| Date: | Monday 18 September 2000 |
| Time: | 15:10 |
| Type: | Piper PA-31T3 Cheyenne (T-1040) |
| Owner/operator: | Cape Smythe Air Service |
| Registration: | N220CS |
| MSN: | 31T-8275013 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1982 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 10157 hours |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 10 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Nuiqsut Airport (PAQT), AK -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Deadhorse Airport, AK (PASC) |
| Nuiqsut Airport, AK (PAQT) | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On September 18, 2000, about 1510 Alaska daylight time, a Piper PA-31T3 airplane, N220CS, was destroyed by impact and postimpact fire after colliding with tundra-covered terrain, about 300 yards south of the Nuiqsut Airport, Nuiqsut, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) scheduled domestic commuter flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated as Flight 181 by Cape Smythe Air Service Inc., Barrow, Alaska. The airline transport certificated pilot and four passengers received fatal injuries; the remaining five passengers received serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and a VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Deadhorse Airport, Deadhorse, Alaska, at 1445.
The airline transport certificated pilot was landing at a remote village on a scheduled domestic commuter flight with nine passengers. The accident airplane, a twin-engine turboprop certified for single-pilot operations, was equipped with a fuselage-mounted belly cargo pod. Witnesses saw the airplane touch down on the gravel runway with the landing gear retracted. The belly pod lightly scraped the runway for about 40 feet before the airplane transitioned to a climb. The propeller tips did not contact the runway. As the airplane began climbing away from the runway, the landing gear was extended. The airplane climbed to about 100 to 150 feet above the ground, and then began a descending left turn, colliding with tundra-covered terrain. A postcrash fire destroyed the fuselage, right wing, and the right engine. The flaps were found extended to 40 degrees. The balked landing procedure for the airplane states, in part: "power levers to maximum, flaps to 15 degrees, landing gear up, and then retract the flaps." Five passengers seated in the rear of the airplane survived the crash. The survivors did not recall hearing a gear warning horn before ground contact. The airplane was landed gear-up eight months before the accident. The airplane was nearly landed gear-up four months before the accident. Each time, a landing gear warning horn was not heard by the pilot or passengers. A postcrash examination of the airplane and engines did not locate any preimpact mechanical malfunction. The FAA's Fairbanks, Alaska, FSDO conducted an inspection of the operator six months before the accident, and recommended the operator utilize two pilots in the accident airplane. Following the accident, the Fairbanks FSDO required the operator to utilize two pilots for passenger flights in the accident airplane make and model.
Probable Cause: The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear, his improper aborted landing procedure, and inadvertent stall/mush. Factors in the accident were an improper adjustment of the landing gear warning horn system by company maintenance personnel, and the failure of the pilot to utilize the prelanding checklist.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
NTSB: https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X21902&key=1
FAA register: 2. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=220CS
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 15 October 1999 | N220CS | Cape Smythe Air Service | 0 | Gambell, AK | |
sub |
| Bird strike | ||||||
Location
Images:
Photos: NTSB
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 27-Sep-2008 01:00 | ASN archive | Added |
| 04-May-2015 21:37 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Cn, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-May-2015 21:40 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:16 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 21-Dec-2016 19:20 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Damage, Category, Investigating agency] |
| 16-Sep-2017 00:20 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 16-Oct-2017 15:14 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Source] |
| 24-Nov-2017 09:13 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 12-Dec-2017 19:11 | ASN Update Bot | Updated [Time, Operator, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
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