Dehavilland DHC-3 accident near Ketchikan, AK
On June 25, 2015, a Dehavilland DHC-3 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Ketchikan, AK. 9 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- June 25, 2015
- Place
- Ketchikan, AK
- Aircraft
- Dehavilland DHC-3 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 9 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 55.456°N, 131.146°W
- NTSB ID
- 20150625X15034
Official records · ANC15MA041
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
- Investigation page: status, final report and safety recommendations
NTSB summary
The Safety Board's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/aviation.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-17/02. On June 25, 2015, about 1215 Alaska daylight time, a single-engine, turbine-powered, float-equipped de Havilland DHC-3 (Otter) airplane, N270PA, collided with mountainous, tree-covered terrain about 24 miles east-northeast of Ketchikan, Alaska. The commercial pilot and eight passengers sustained fatal injuries, and the airplane was destroyed. The airplane was owned by Pantechnicon Aviation, of Minden, Nevada, and operated by Promech Air, Inc., of Ketchikan. The flight was conducted under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 as an on-demand sightseeing flight; a company visual flight rules flight plan (by which the company performed its own flight-following) was in effect. Marginal visual flight rules conditions were reported in the area at the time of the accident. The flight departed about 1207 from Rudyerd Bay about 44 miles east-northeast of Ketchikan and was en route to the operator's base at the Ketchikan Harbor Seaplane Base, Ketchikan.
Probable cause
(1) the pilot's decision to continue visual flight into an area of instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in his geographic disorientation and controlled flight into terrain; and (2) Promech's company culture, which tacitly endorsed flying in hazardous weather and failed to manage the risks associated with the competitive pressures affecting Ketchikan-area air tour operators; its lac
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Browse: Alaska · Dehavilland 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.
