Accident Beechcraft 1900C-1 N116AX,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 320794

Date:	Friday 8 March 2013
Time:	08:14
Type:	Beechcraft 1900C-1
Owner/operator:	ACE Air Cargo
Registration:	N116AX
MSN:	UC-17
Year of manufacture:	1988
Total airframe hrs:	29824 hours
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-65B
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	32 km NE of Dillingham Municipal Airport, AK (DLG) - United States of America
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	King Salmon Airport, AK (AKN/PAKN)
Destination airport:	Dillingham Municipal Airport, AK (DLG/PADL)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
A Beechcraft 1900 cargo plane was destroyed when it impacted rising terrain some 32 km northeast of Dillingham Municipal Airport, AK (DLG). Both crew members were killed. The flight had originally departed Anchorage, AK (ANC) about 05:44, and made a scheduled stop at King Salmon, AK (AKN), before continuing on to the next scheduled stop, Dillingham, AK (DLG). As the airplane approached Dillingham, the flight crew requested the RNAV GPS 19 instrument approach to the Dillingham Airport about 07:57 from controllers at the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC). The ARTCC specialist on duty subsequently granted the request by issuing the clearance, with instructions to proceed direct to the Initial Approach Fix (IAF) to begin the approach, and to maintain an altitude of 2,000 feet or above. A short time later the flight crew requested to enter a holding pattern at the IAF so that they could contact the Flight Service Station (FSS) for a runway conditions report, and the ARTCC specialist granted that request. The ARTCC specialist then made several attempts to contact the aircraft, but was unsuccessful and subsequently lost radar track on the aircraft. An ELT signal indicated it had come down in the Muklung Hills. The wreckage was located the next day at an altitude of 2000 feet on the south side of the Muklung Hills.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
The flight crew's failure to maintain terrain clearance, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain in instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing to the accident were the flight crew's failure to correctly read back and interpret clearance altitudes issued by the air traffic controller, their failure to adhere to minimum altitudes depicted on the published instrument approach chart, and their failure to adhere to company checklists.

METAR:

16:45 UTC / 08:45 local time:
PADL 081645Z 10017G30KT 7SM -RA OVC015 01/01 A2909
Wind 100 degrees at 17 knots, gusting to 30 knots; Visibility: 7 miles; light rain; overcast cloud deck at 1500 feet AGL; Temperature: 1°C, dew point: 1°C

Accident investigation: