Accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan N4704B,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 324328

Date:	Tuesday 26 November 1996
Time:	11:01
Type:	Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Owner/operator:	Arctic Transportation Services
Registration:	N4704B
MSN:	208B0199
Year of manufacture:	1991
Total airframe hrs:	3711 hours
Cycles:	5069 flights
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	1,6 km W of Bethel, AK - United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Bethel Airport, AK (BET/PABE)
Destination airport:	Kwigillingok Airport, AK (KWK/PAGG)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The Cessna Caravan I took off from Bethel runway 36 at 10:59 for a VFR flight to Kwigillingok (KWK). After departure, tower personnel observed the airplane in a left turn back toward the airport at an altitude of 100 to 200 feet above the ground. The angle of bank increased and the nose of the airplane suddenly dropped toward the ground. The airplane struck the ground in a nose and left wing low attitude, two minutes after departure.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "Failure of the pilot to maintain control of the airplane, while maneuvering to reverse direction after takeoff, after encountering an undetermined anomaly. The undetermined anomaly was a related factor."

Accident investigation: