Swearingen SA-26AT accident near St. George, AK
On July 7, 1998, a Swearingen SA-26AT (airplane) was involved in an accident near St. George, AK. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- July 7, 1998
- Place
- St. George, AK
- Aircraft
- Swearingen SA-26AT · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 56.570°N, 169.630°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001211X10441
Official records · ANC98FA091
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
Air traffic control records
- Transcript of Radio Communications: Transcript (PDF), on ntsb.gov
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On July 7, 1998, about 1547 Alaska daylight time, a Swearingen SA-26AT Merlin-IIB airplane, N501FS, operated by F. S. Air Service, Inc., of Anchorage, Alaska, was destroyed when it impacted terrain about 5.5 miles west-northwest of the New Saint George Airport, Saint George, Alaska. The two occupants, both flight crewmembers, sustained fatal injuries. The pilot-in-command (PIC) was the president and owner of F. S. Air Service, Inc., and occupied the right pilot seat. The copilot was not qualified as a pilot-in-command of the SA-26AT, and occupied the left pilot seat. The flight was conducted under 14 CFR Part 91 as a positioning flight to pick up three passengers for an on-demand charter flight from Saint George. The flight departed Anchorage International Airport at 1240 under a VFR flight plan, and an IFR clearance was received approximately 100 nautical miles northeast of Saint George. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed at Saint George at the time of the accident. The last recorded radio communication from the airplane was at 1527, when the flight was cleared by the Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) to perform the NDB/DME-A instrument approach. A witness who was awaiting pickup by the accident airplane told the NTSB investigator-in-charge (IIC) that he was waiting at the airport and heard an airplane fly over the airport on a southwesterly course about 1545. He said that the airplane transmitted that it was F. S. Air beginning the approach. No other transmission was overheard. The witness stated that the ceiling was about 30
Probable cause
The pilot-in-command's failure to adequately monitor the instrument approach and the co-pilot's failure to intercept and maintain the proper NDB bearing on the approach. Contributing factors were the pilot-in-command's obstructed view of the NDB indicator and his overconfidence in his personal ability, the terrain (cliffs), low ceiling, and the flight crew's disregard of the minimum descent altitu
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Browse: Alaska · Swearingen aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
