A nearby plane that crashed into the sea ice in Alaska, killing the 10 people on board, had half a ton overweight for a trip to ice cream conditions, said the National Board of Transportation Security of the USA. UU. (NTSB) in a preliminary report published on Wednesday.
The weight is just a “data point” in the ongoing investigation, he warned Clint Johnson, who leads the NTSB Alaska region. A final report that includes probable causes can take one year or more after an accident.
February 6. The Bering plane crash was one of Alaska’s most fatal air accidents in this century and the third largest aviation accident in the United States in an eight -day stretch. A commercial plane and an army helicopter collided on the Potomac River on January 29, killing 67 people. A medical transport plane crashed in Philadelphia on January 31, killing the six on board and another person on the ground.
Small aircraft such as the Cessna caravan in this clash are the battle horses of Alaska, where most of the more than 200 state villages are beyond the road system and only air or boat accessible. Residents trust vicinity aircraft such as people living in the lowest 48 depend on cars, use them to reach medical appointments and meetings, shopping, visiting relatives or attending the sports games of high school.
The single engine turbopropulsor plane flew that afternoon from the community of Unlakleet to Nome, a trip of about 240 kilometers, when the authorities lost contact less than an hour after takeoff, David Olson, director of operations at Bering Air, at that time. The Cessna caravan was lost about 50 kilometers from its destination.
A review of the plane content after the accident indicated its estimated gross weight at the output was approximately 4,475 kilograms, approximately 480 kilograms on the maximum gross weight takeoff for a flight to the areas where ice formation is in the forecast, says the report. The pilot operating manual indicates that the maximum allowed take -off weight for a flight under such conditions was the same as the basic plane, 3,995 kilograms.
Johnson said it remains to be determined if the overweight conditions were a factor in the accident. Glashing conditions were forecast along the route, and was snowing, with an icy rain in Nome, he said. The officials are trying to determine what information was transmitted to the pilot, what information he had when he left and if there were ice conditions in the location of the accident, he said.
An email that seeks the comment sent to Bering Air was not immediately returned.
The weather is often a factor in remote Alaska, and although flying is common for most Alaska inhabitants, it can be a dangerous effort, said Whitney Power Wilson, lawyer for enlightening accidents and pilot accidents in Anchorage.
“Ice formation should worry about all pilots, but especially for smaller aircraft and pilots pilots that often operate in conditions that lead to ice formation,” he said. “The weight of an airplane, the fact that ice formation is something we are dealing with, these considerations should be taken seriously because the consequences can be very tragic.”
The researchers also looked at the altitude of the plane. It was flying in an area where moderate ice formation was possible between 2,000 feet (610 meters) and 8,000 feet (2,438 meters) and where the weather could be dangerous for light airplanes, said NTSB president Jennifer Homendy at a press conference in Nome last month.
The contact was lost shortly after air traffic control told the pilot that the track track in Nome would be closed for about 15 minutes to undo, the report says.
“The controller added that if the pilot wanted to ‘reduce the speed a bit’ to prevent the flight from arriving before the track reopened, that would be fine, and the pilot recognized,” says the report.
The pilot manual also indicates that an air speed of 95 knots must be maintained to fly in ice formation conditions if the thaw equipment is fully functional.
Approximately three minutes after the pilot was told to descend 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) to his discretion, the autopilot disconnected to 99 knots, then fell in seconds to 70 knots and was about 3,100 feet (945 meters), says the report. The final satellite follow -up data arrived less than a minute later, at 3:20 pm, at an altitude of 200 feet.
The anti-alley system on the wings and the tail of the five-year turbo-propeller plane was designed to prevent the ice from accumulating, according to the report.
The operator said that the amount of diltered fluid was verified during each inspection prior to the flight. The pilot is responsible for ensuring that there is a sufficient amount on board, but there is no requirement to record when added to the plane. A worker at the Unalakleet airport told the pilot that the liquid was available, but the pilot told him that the tank was full, according to the report.
The United States Coast Guard has said that no sign of anguish of the plane did not know. After an extensive search, the remains were found the next day in a touch of ice drift. The pilot and the nine passengers had been killed.
