| - | ACCIDENT DETAILS |
| Date: | September 18, 2000 |
| Time: | 15:10 |
| Location: | Nuiqsut, Alaska |
| Operator: | Cape Smythe Air Service |
| Flight #: | 181 |
| Route: | Deadhorse - Nuiqsut |
| AC Type: | Piper PA-31-350 Navajo |
| Registration: | N220CS |
| cn / ln: | 8275013 |
| Aboard: | 10 (passengers:9 crew:1) |
| Fatalities: | 5 (passengers:4 crew:1) |
| Ground: | 0 |
| Summary: | The belly cargo pod lightly scraped the runway for about 40 feet, but the airplane transitioned to a climb. As the airplane began climbing away from the runway, the landing gear was observed to extend. The airplane climbed to about 100 to 150 feet above the ground, and then began a descending left turn. The airplane collided with the ground on a 095 degree heading. The wreckage path extended for about 300 feet, during which the landing gear, left wing, and the left engine separated from the airplane. A postcrash fire destroyed the fuselage, right wing, and the right engine. The pilot's failure to extend the landing gear, his improper aborted landing procedure, and inadvertent stall/mush. Factors in the accident were an improper adjustment of the landing gear warning horn system by company maintenance personnel, and the failure of the pilot to utilize the prelanding checklist. |
Sources
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