1960 — June 14, Plane Crash, Pacific Northern Airlines 201, Mt. Gilbert (9000 ft), AK– 14

–14  AirDisaster.Com.  Accident Database.  Accident Synopsis 06141960.

–14  Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Pacific Northern Airlines, 14 Jun 1960.

–14  CAB. AAR. Pacific Northern Airlines…Mt. Gilbert, Alaska, June 14, 1960.

–14  Liefer, G. P. Broken Wings: Tragedy & Disaster in Alaska Civil Aviation. 2003, p. 227.

–14  UPI. “Place Crash Fatal to 14,” June 15, 1960.

 

Narrative Information

 

Civil Aeronautics Board: “At approximately 0447 a.s.t., June 14, 1960, a Pacific Northern Airlines Lockheed Constellation L-749, N 1554V, crashed into the sheer face of Mt. Gilbert, Alaska, at the 9,000-foot level. All nine passengers and five crew members aboard were fatally injured.

 

“Pacific Northern Flight 201 failed to maintain its intended track after taking off from Cordova, Alaska, bound for Anchorage, Alaska. Mt. Gilbert is approximately 28 nautical miles to the right of the flight’s first intended checkpoint and is 9,646 feet in elevation.

 

“The Board determines that this accident was the result of the crew’s failure to use all available navigational aids in establishing the aircraft’s position on Amber I Airway thereby allowing the aircraft to proceed off course over dangerous terrain. The Board also determines that a contributing factor to the accident was the failure of air defense radar, which had been tracking the aircraft, to notify either ARTCC or the crew that the aircraft was proceeding on a dangerous course.

 

Investigation 

 

“Pacific Northern Airlines Flight 201 (PN201), a Lockheed Constellation L-749, N 1554V, was a second section and departed Seattle Tacoma Airport at 0023 p. s. t., for Anchorage, Alaska, with a scheduled stop at Cordova, Alaska….PN201 taxied out for takeoff on runway 8 at 0413 and requested clearance to Anchorage. The pilot was queried as to what altitude he desired and he requested 10,000….

 

“Alaskan Air Command Regulation 55-33, dated March 30, 1959, entitled Operations USAF Radar Advisory Service and Flight Monitoring Service in Alaska provides for a radar advisory service (Stargazer) which may be requested by a pilot and for radar flight monitoring in the absence of a request from the pilot. This regulation is supplemented by a Joint Agreement Between the Fifth Region, Federal Aviation Agency and the Alaskan Air Command in Relation to the USAF Radar Advisory Service in Alaska, effective July 10, 1959, which establishes the policy and procedures for the provision of radar assistance by USAF Air Defense Radar units in Alaska to military and civil aircraft in flight, so as to assist aircraft in flight to avoid existing areas of potentially hazardous weather, terrain, restricted areas, and other conditions hazardous to flight.

 

“The instrument flight plans of PN201 were passed on to the USAF Air Defense Radar station located at Middleton Island by the FAA Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center located at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska. This information, which consisted of the type of aircraft, the IFR flight altitude, the flight plan route and the estimated time of departure, was received and recorded by the USAF Chief Radar Operator at Middleton Island. The surveillance operator was immediately advised that an L-749 Constellation would depart Cordova at approximately 0420. The radar operator observed the blip representing PN201 as it departed Cordova and continued to observe it by tracking. The radar operator’s log and testimony indicate that he had the aircraft under radar surveillance for approximately 30 minutes. Plots of the flights radar return were made at 0422, 0423, and 0425. At 0427, Flight PN201 reported over the Hinchinbrook low-frequency range station. Three additional plots were made of PN201 position at 0430, 0435, and 0440. The 0435 plot placed PN201 approximately 20 nautical miles to the right of its intended course along Amber One Airway. The 0440 plot placed PN201 approximately 28 nautical miles to the right of its intended course and headed into glacial terrain with elevations above 10,000 feet. No attempt was made by the Air Defense Radar Station controller to contact Flight PN201 nor did he notify the Air Defense Direction Center (ADDC) of the hazardous situation as required by the joint agreement of July 10, 1959. This controller estimated Flight PN201’s altitude at 0423 as 8,000 feet.

 

“Following the 0440 plot, the radar image of PN201 disappeared from the scope of the Middleton Island Air Defense Radar Station and no further plots could be made.

 

“The wreckage of PN201 was found and positively identified June 14, at 1830 by rescue units who were transported to the site by helicopter. Investigation disclosed that PN201 struck the 70-degree ice slope of Mt. Gilbert just below the summit at the 9,000-foot level, at approximately 0447… Mt. Gilbert (elevation 9,646 feet) is located in the Chugach Mountains approximately 50 miles east of Anchorage, Alaska.

 

“The aircraft disintegrated on impact and the wreckage settled into deep snow below the impact area. A snow slide, resulting from the crash, carried pieces of wreckage down to the lower slope and buried most of it in an area extending from about 8,500 feet down to about 7,500 feet. The angle of repose of the slide was estimated to be about 30 degrees. Only one body, that of a passenger, could be found….

 

“Captain Chamberlain had flown the route from Seattle to Anchorage by way of Cordova frequently for approximately 15 years and was familiar with terrain, communication and navigation aids, weather characteristics, and airports along this route….

 

“It is apparent that whatever directional difficulty occurred began in the vicinity of the Hinchinbrook range….Although such directional errors could have existed, the Board is aware that additional apparatus was available to the pilots to assist in their navigation….The aircraft continued off course…despite the fact that a monitoring of the aural signal at any time during the flight would have alerted the crew to their perilous position and allowed them to return to the proper course. It is reasonable to believe, therefore, that the audible signal was not being utilized, despite the fact that the PNA Operations Manual requires that both the aural signal and the radio compass shall be utilized when flying on low-frequency airways.

 

“During the investigation of this accident, the sergeant-in-charge of the radar unit at Middleton Island testified that the radar operator observed a blip on the radar screen for 30 minutes and that he checked with the radar officer. He also observed the blip. However, he did not think it necessary to contact the flight because he assumed the pilot was deviating from his course so as to show his passengers a certain glacier, as pilots allegedly often did. However, it is doubtful that the ground was visible since the aircraft would have been flying in or above clouds along the entire trip from Hinchinbrook Radio to Anchorage.

 

“Although the aircraft struck the mountain because of a deviation from its intended course, the Board believes the accident could have been prevented had the provisions of Alaskan Air Command Regulation 55-33 of March 30, 1959…and the Joint Agreement effective July 10, 1959 (Attachment II), for radar flight monitoring in the absence of a request from the pilot, been carried out.

 

“The Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the failure of the crew to use all available navigational aids in establishing the aircraft’s position on Amber I Airway, thereby allowing the aircraft to deviate from course and fly over hazardous terrain. A contributing factor was the failure of Air Defense Radar, which had been tracking the aircraft, to notify either ARTCC or the crew that the aircraft was proceeding on a dangerous course.” (CAB. AAR. Pacific Northern Airlines…Mt. Gilbert, Alaska, June 14, 1960.)

 

Newspaper

 

June 15, UPI: This crash ended a “perfect record of 29 years of flying over difficult Alaska routes” for Pacific Northern Airlines.  (UPI. “Plane Crash Fatal to 14,” June 15, 1960.)

 

Sources

 

Aviation Safety Network. Accident Description. Pacific Northern Airlines, 14 Jun 1960.  Accessed 2-26-2009 at: http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19600614-1

 

Civil Aeronautics Board. Aircraft Accident Report. Pacific Northern Airlines, Inc., Lockheed Constellation, L-749, N 1554V Mt. Gilbert, Alaska, June 14, 1960. Washington, DC: CAB, March 14, 1960. Accessed at:  http://dotlibrary1.specialcollection.net/scripts/ws.dll?file&fn=8&name=*P%3A%5CDOT%5Cairplane%20accidents%5Cwebsearch%5C061460.pdf

 

Liefer, G. P. Broken Wings: Tragedy & Disaster in Alaska Civil Aviation. Blaine, WA: Hancock House, 2003.

 

UPI. “Plane Crash Fatal to 14,” June 15, 1960. Accessed at:  http://www.newspaperarchive.com/freepdfviewer.aspx?img=10038171