Pilot Debrief

Cessna 208B near Bethel, AK — 2008-01-15

Final reportANC08LA031
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Date
2008-01-15
Location
Bethel, AK, USA
Airport
PABE
Aircraft
Cessna 208B
Registration
N454SF
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
Minor
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Approach

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.

NTSB 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.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Spatial disorientation
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have requested ATC to activate runway lighting for better visibility.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • 1 docket document
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents1

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