Accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan N454SF,
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Date:Tuesday 15 January 2008
Time:14:39 LT
Type:Silhouette image of generic C208 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different    
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Owner/operator:Grant Aviation Inc.
Registration: N454SF
MSN: 208B0797
Year of manufacture:1999
Total airframe hrs:8612 hours
Engine model:Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A
Fatalities:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5
Aircraft damage: Substantial
Category:Accident
Location:Bethel, Alaska -   United States of America
Phase: Landing
Nature:Unknown
Departure airport:Sheldon SPB, AK (SXP)
Destination airport:Bethel Airport, AK (BET/PABE)
Investigating agency: NTSB
Confidence Rating: Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Narrative:
The airline transport pilot was planning to land on an asphalt runway that had localized drifting and blowing snow. Instead, the airplane touched down in a snow-covered area of the airport between the runway and the adjacent taxiway. The pilot said that blowing snow and flat lighting conditions contributed to his difficulty in discerning the correct location of the runway. He said he "aimed for the darker area between the runway and the taxiway, believing this was the runway." The director of operations for the operator said that the depression between the runway and the taxiway had been filled with snow by runway maintenance personnel during snow removal operations. He indicated that the area had the illusion of a hard surface, but landing during reduced visibility due to blowing snow required the pilot to take advantage of any and all available resources, such as requesting the activation of the runway lights, and/or using the instrument landing system (ILS) localizer as a means of aligning the airplane with the centerline of the runway.

Probable Cause: The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for landing. Contributing to the accident were snow-covered terrain, blowing snow and flat lighting conditions.

Accident investigation:
cover
  
Investigating agency: NTSB
Report number: ANC08LA031
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 7 months
Download report: Final report

Sources:

NTSB ANC08LA031

History of this aircraft

Other occurrences involving this aircraft
24 February 2002 N454SF Grant Aviation, Inc. 0 Tununak, Alaska sub
4 February 2020 N454SF Grant Aviation 0 Hooper Bay Airport, AK (HPB) sub

Location

Revision history:

Date/timeContributorUpdates
03-Oct-2022 09:29 ASN Update Bot Added

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