Piper PA32R accident near Tuntutuliak, AK
On February 6, 2020, a Piper PA32R (airplane) was involved in an accident near Tuntutuliak, AK. 5 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- February 6, 2020
- Place
- Tuntutuliak, AK
- Aircraft
- Piper PA32R · Airplane
- Injuries
- 5 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 60.352°N, 163.023°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200206X34831
Official records · ANC20FA017
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn February 6, 2020, about 1110 Alaska standard time, a Piper PA-32R-300 airplane, N7632C, was substantially damaged when it was involved in an accident near Tuntutuliak, Alaska. The commercial pilot and four passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was operated by Paklook Air Inc., doing business as Yute Commuter Service, as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 scheduled passenger flight. The flight originated from Bethel Airport (PABE), Bethel, Alaska, about 1040, and was destined for Kipnuk Airport (PAKI), Kipnuk, Alaska, a distance of about 82 nautical miles (nm). According to the company flight following log, the pilot reported that he was outbound at 1034. A pilot from another company stated that the accident airplane departed right before his airplane under a special visual flight rules (VFR) departure clearance and that the cloud ceiling at the time was overcast at 600 ft above ground level (agl). Figure 1. The accident site and route airports According to the company's flight-following notes, the village agent from PAKI called the company flight follower at 1140 and reported that the airplane was overdue. The company president, who was exercising operational control over flights at the time of the accident, initiated overdue airplane procedures. About 1315, the company dispatched two airplanes to search for the missing airplane. A crew located the wreckage along the route from PABE to PAKI. There was no radar coverage in the area of the accident site, and the airplane was not equipped with any GPS devices that recorded nonvolatile m
Probable cause
The pilot's continued visual flight rules flight into reduced visibility, including likely flat light and/or white out conditions, which resulted in a controlled flight into terrain. Contributing to the accident were the operator’s inadequate operational control procedures, which permitted the pilot to depart into conditions that were below the minimums specified by their operating procedures.
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Browse: Alaska · Piper 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.
