Beechcraft V35B N912DB

Summary

On 5 August 2005 at about 20:36 local time, a Beechcraft V35B registered N912DB was involved in an accident near Denali Park, Alaska, United States. 2 people were on board and 2 died. The aircraft was destroyed. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

5 August 2005 at 20:36

Classification

Accident

Location

Denali Park, Alaska, United States

Coordinates

69.7299, -162.8194

Aircraft

Beechcraft V35B

Registration

N912DB

Category

Airplane

Engines

1

Operator

Not recorded

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Personal

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Fairbanks → Anchorage

Aircraft damage

Destroyed

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

ANC05FA121

2 people died.

The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance from mountainous terrain while climbing, and his improper in-flight decision making by electing to fly at a low altitude toward rising terrain. A factor associated with the accident was mountainous terrain.

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

Read the full NTSB narrative

The private pilot was operating his airplane under Title 14, CFR Part 91 as a personal cross-country flight. He was participating in a group flight-seeing trip touring Alaska, that departed the state of Washington several days earlier. Each of the group's ten participants had provided their own airplanes for the tour. Prior to the accident flight, the group had been briefed by the group leader, an experienced commercial pilot with significant Alaska mountain flight experience, on the suggested route and altitudes through mountainous terrain to a rendezvous at another airport. An FAA inspector also made a presentation to the group that morning on some of the hazards associated with flying in the mountains. The group departed in small groups at close intervals. The accident pilot and two other pilots elected to initially fly a course parallel to the one suggested, up a different drainage/canyon. The intent was to join the suggested route later in the flight. A pilot flying above and behind the accident airplane noted that there was steeply rising terrain at the end on the canyon, and he started his climb before the accident pilot to clear a saddle between two peaks. He stated that the accident pilot, who was about 700-1000 feet lower than him, started his climb too late, and collided with a rock face, about 300 feet below the 5,000 feet msl saddle. The airplane was destroyed by impact and a postcrash fire. Inspection of the airplane disclosed signatures on the propeller and associated components consistent with a high power setting at impact. The pilot flying behind the accident pilot stated that there were no distress calls from the pilot prior to impact, and that the weather was not a factor in the accident. Other pilots flying in the vicinity noted that the wind was either calm or light, with no associated turbulence, with ample clearance between the ridges and the higher cloud layers.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.