NTSB: Pilot had just 101 hours at controls of plane model that crashed in Unalaska
101 and 147 hours in the same plane... hardly the level of expertise expected IMO...
https://www.ktuu.com/content/news/F...into-Unalaska-plane-crash-565011082.htmlphoto courtesy Randy Batten
By Sean Maguire | Posted: Fri 3:02 PM, Nov 15, 2019 | Updated: Fri 8:03 PM, Nov 15, 2019
ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - On Friday, the National Transportation Safety Board released a preliminary report into a plane crash in Unalaska that left one person dead, describing that the pilot overshot the runway after touching down around 1,000 feet along the 4,500-foot-long runway.
According to the report, the pilot of the PenAir flight had 20,000 total flight hours but only 101 hours at the controls of a Saab 2000. The plane’s first officer had 1,446 total flight hours, of which 147 were in a Saab 2000.
Clint Johnson, chief of the regional NTSB office, said that federal investigators will continue looking into level of the pilot's training, the operations of airline and the weather conditions at the time of the crash before releasing a final report.
Just before the Oct. 17 crash, the pilot abandoned their first attempted landing “because they were not stabilized.” Gusty winds were also reported in the area, the report detailed.
On the second attempted landing, the plane touched down at 142 knots (163 mph) before braking hard. One of the left tires was found by investigators to be deflated “with an area that had worn entirely through the tire.”
The plane overran the runway before crashing into a fence, crossing a ditch, hitting a rock, running over a roadway and coming to rest on a small rock wall.
Forty-two passengers and crew were onboard the flight during the crash. One person was killed and several others suffered minor and major injuries.
The NTSB report into the fatal crash describes that upon inspection, all the seats inside the plane “were intact and secure to the floor,” except for 4A. Johnson said he understands that the passenger who died in the crash was sitting in the unsecured seat.
Investigators also found a propeller blade loosely stuck in the outside of the Saab 2000. Inside the plane, another propeller blade was found.
The damage to the cabin was contained over three rows between seat 3A and seat 6A. An overhead compartment was detached from the ceiling, a window frame had come loose and “various brackets and debris [were] hanging down into the seats or laying on the floor.”
Ravn Air Group, the company that owns and operates PenAir, decided to stop using Saab 2000 planes to fly to Unalaska until a full investigation into the crash is complete. Instead, the airline is using Dash-8 aircraft to service Unalaska using the same schedule as PenAir had prior to the crash.
On Friday, Alaska Airlines announced that it will not market flights to Unalaska being run by Ravn Air through May.
“We respect and support that decision and are presently conducting our own assessment. It could be several months before that process is complete,” read a blog post from Alaska Airlines. “Accordingly, all flights marketed by Alaska Airlines to and from Dutch Harbor through May 31, 2020 have been canceled.”
According to Alaska Airlines, everyone who booked a flight through the airline will be automatically rebooked on a Ravn Air flight.
