Pilot Debrief

Cessna 208 near Hooper Bay, AK — 2020-02-05

Final reportANC20LA020
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Date
2020-02-05
Location
Hooper Bay, AK, USA
Airport
HPB
Aircraft
Cessna 208
Registration
N454SF
Category
Airplane
Highest injury
None
Fatalities
0
Phase of flight
Takeoff roll

Probable cause

The pilot’s decision to depart from a contaminated runway, and his failure to make a timely decision to abort the takeoff when the airplane was not accelerating as expected. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s decision to depart in limited visibility conditions, which likely affected his ability to determine the available runway distance remaining during the takeoff.

NTSB narrative

While taking off from a snow-covered runway in instrument meteorological conditions, the pilot stated that the airplane was not gaining speed as expected, but that there was inadequate runway remaining on which to abort the takeoff. The airplane became airborne, and the stall warning horn activated; the airplane subsequently settled back onto the ground, the nose landing gear impacted terrain, and the airplane came to rest upright off the departure end of the runway, resulting in substantial damage.

Analysis

Primary failure mode
Loss of control
First missed decision gate
Pilot could have aborted takeoff due to inadequate airspeed and poor visibility.

NTSB coding

Evidence available

  • Photos
  • 8 docket documents
View NTSB final reportView NTSB docket

Docket documents8

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