De Havilland DHC-2 N5343G

Summary

On 24 September 1996 at about 19:00 local time, a De Havilland DHC-2 registered N5343G, operated by Aniak Air Guides, was involved in an accident near Aniak, Alaska, United States. 3 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

24 September 1996 at 19:00

Classification

Accident

Location

Aniak, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

61.2001, -158.6009

Aircraft

De Havilland DHC-2

Registration

N5343G

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Aniak Air Guides

Operating rule

Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter

Purpose of flight

Unknown

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Oskawalik Lake → Unknown

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC96LA164

Nobody was injured.

The pilot's failure to remove all snow and ice from the airplane prior to takeoff.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The pilot stated that he landed the airplane on the lake to pick up two hunters. While they were loading the airplane, a snow shower moved in and the visibility degraded from 3 miles to less than 1/4 mile. After approximately 5 minutes, the snow shower stopped and visibility improved to 5 miles. He elected to takeoff. He brushed his hand on the tail surface of the airplane and noted that the snow brushed off easily. He did not brush any more snow off the airplane. The pilot stated that when he started the engine he looked out at the tail and saw that the snow had blown off the tail. He assumed that it would blow off the rest of the airplane during the takeoff run. The airplane lifted off the surface of the lake and would not climb above 5 feet of altitude. The pilot aborted the takeoff and had insufficient room to stop the airplane. The airplane collided with the shoreline.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.