CIVIL AERONAUTICS BOARD
AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT
BEECHCRAFT, MODEL C-18-S, N 57139, NEAR
McGRATH, ALASKA, SEPTEMBER 1, 1959
SYNOPSIS
A chartered Beechcraft, model C-18-S, crashed near McGrath, Alaska, on September 1, 1959, about 2214 A.s.t., killing all eight occupants.
The aircraft departed Kotzebue for McGrath, both in Alaska, at 1315 A.s.t., with nonrefueling stops at Kiana and Tanana. At Tanana Pilot Chefley W. Priest was briefed on en route weather to McGrath as well as on the route and terminal forecasts. He departed Tanana at 1957 A.s.t., about an hour before sunset, on a VFR flight plan.
An emergency distress call from the aircraft was first heard at 2128 A.s.t. There followed several communications between the Beechcraft and the McGrath ground station which issued navigational advice. At or about 2214 A.s.t., approximately three—quarters of an hour after dark and during rain showers, the aircraft struck the ground violently in a steep spiral at a point about 26 miles from the McGrath Airport. This accident appears to have been caused by the pilot's loss of control during instrument flight and his failure to recover.
Investigation
The purpose of the flight was to transport a group of six young women and their manager, engaged in selling magazine subscriptions, from Kotzebue to Anchorage. At Kotzebue the aircraft was fueled to its capacity of 206 gallons of gasoline and 7—1/2 gallons of oil. Upon departure from Kotzebue at 1315[1] the gross weight of the aircraft was computed to be approximately 8,600 pounds. The maximum certificated gross weight for this aircraft is 7,850. The aircraft landed at Kiana at 1350, departed there at 1525, and then landed at Tanana at 1726 for a stop of approximately 2-1/2 hours, but no fuel was added at either place although available at both places. While at Tanana Pilot C. W. Priest was furnished the existing and forecast en route weather by an FAA airways operations specialist.
Departure from Tanana was at 1957, about an hour before dark, on a VFR flight plan in which the pilot estimated a flying time of one hour and 30 minutes to McGrath and fuel for two hours and 30 minutes. McGrath is about 166 miles to the southwest of Tanana. (See Attachment A).
- ↑ A11 times herein are Alaska standard based on the 24—hour clock.
USCOMM-DC-2-7062
