Piper PA-31T3 accident near Nuiqsut, Alaska, September 18, 2000
On September 18, 2000 at about 11:10 pm local time, a Piper PA-31T3, registered N220CS, was destroyed in an accident near Nuiqsut, Alaska (Nuiqsut airport). It was flown under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 5 people were killed and 5 people were seriously injured. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
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.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 18, 2000 · about 11:10 pm local time
- Place
- Nuiqsut, Alaska · Nuiqsut · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 5 people were killed and 5 people were seriously injured.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Piper PA-31T3 · all PA-31T3s on the register
- Registration
- N220CS · registry record · serial 31T-8275013
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airline transport certificated pilot was landing at a remote village on a scheduled domestic commuter flight with nine passengers. The accident airplane, a twin-engine turboprop certified for single-pilot operations, was equipped with a fuselage-mounted belly cargo pod. Witnesses saw the airplane touch down on the gravel runway with the landing gear retracted. The belly pod lightly scraped the runway for about 40 feet before the airplane transitioned to a climb. The propeller tips did not contact the runway. As the airplane began climbing away from the runway, the landing gear was extended. The airplane climbed to about 100 to 150 feet above the ground, and then began a descending left turn, colliding with tundra-covered terrain. A postcrash fire destroyed the fuselage, right wing, and the right engine. The flaps were found extended to 40 degrees. The balked landing procedure for the airplane states, in part: "power levers to maximum, flaps to 15 degrees, landing gear up, and then retract the flaps." Five passengers seated in the rear of the airplane survived the crash. The survivors did not recall hearing a gear warning horn before ground contact. The airplane was landed gear-up eight months before the accident. The airplane was nearly landed gear-up four months before the accident. Each time, a landing gear warning horn was not heard by the pilot or passengers. A postcrash examination of the airplane and engines did not locate any preimpact mechanical malfunction. The FAA's Fairbanks, Alaska, FSDO conducted an inspection of the operator six months before the accident, and recommended the operator utilize two pilots in the accident airplane. Following the accident, the Fairbanks FSDO required the operator to utilize two pilots for passenger flights in the accident airplane make and model.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,517 hours in all; 165 in this make and model; 282 in the last 90 days; 118 in the last 30 days; 1,544 as pilot in command
- Last flight review: July 12, 2000
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
- Injury: fatal
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 10,157 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, September 15, 2000; 8 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 9,000 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W Canada PT6-11 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
- Operator: Cape Smythe Air Service INC.
The flight
- Departed from: PASC Deadhorse AK at 5:45 pm
- Destination: PAQT Nuiqsut AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 22, 4,343 ft by 90 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 232° at 12 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 3,900 ft; scat at 2,000 ft
- Temperature: 36°F (2°C), dew point 30°F (-1°C)
- Altimeter: 29.88 inHg
- Observation at 6:00 pm from PAQ, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 4 | 5 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N220CS the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.