Poor interaction between the flight coordinators and the pilot of a Cessna 208B are among the details revealed in last week’s opening of the NTSB evidence docket for the Nov. 29, 2013 crash, involving a turboprop operated by Hageland Aviation Services, dba ERA Alaska. Carrying 10 people, the aircraft was dispatched under Part 135 VFR rules for a flight between Bethel, Alaska, and St. Mary’s, with an intermediate stop in Mountain Village, Alaska. The aircraft crashed near St. Mary’s at 6:24 p.m. local time while attempting to land. The 68-year-old, high-time pilot and three passengers died in the crash, while the remaining six people suffered serious injuries.
St. Mary’s weather a few minutes after the accident was reported as a 300-foot ceiling with a visibility of 2.5 miles. The weather at St. Mary’s had already begun to deteriorate before the flight departed Bethel. The investigation revealed, however, that the two flight coordinators never discussed the increased risk level they’d assigned to the flight—low ceilings and contaminated runways—with the pilot, possibly because neither of the coordinators had been trained on how to apply the company’s new risk-assessment program.
Flight and duty records revealed the pilot was nearing the end of a 14-hour assigned duty day, also raising fatigue as a potential factor in the accident.