Cessna 208A accident near Port Heiden, Alaska, January 30, 1998
On January 30, 1998 at about 9:00 pm local time, a Cessna 208A, registered N9316F, was destroyed in an accident near Port Heiden, Alaska (Port Heiden airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's inadequate in-flight decision resulting in airframe ice accumulation to the extent that degraded aircraft performance and insufficient airspeed occurred followed by a stall. Contributing factors were freezing rain and icing conditions.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 30, 1998 · about 9:00 pm local time
- Place
- Port Heiden, Alaska · Port Heiden · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 208A · all 208As on the register
- Registration
- N9316F · no longer on the register · serial 208-00011
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot departed in visual meteorological conditions of three to four miles visibility with high ceilings. He stated the airplane encountered freezing rain about five miles south of the airport while in cruise flight at 1,200 feet msl, and rapidly accumulated ice on the airframe, wings, and windshield. The pilot said he initially changed altitude in an attempt to exit the icing conditions. Ice accumulation continued, so he elected to return. While maneuvering to land at the airport, the airplane was unable to maintain altitude at full engine power. He said that any angle of bank resulted in the onset of prestall buffet, so he decided to land on a frozen lake south of the airport. He said that the airplane did not reach the lake, 'mushed into the ground,' and during the flare/touchdown, the left wing stalled. The pilot did not have access to the official weather prior to departure. The National Weather Service contracted observer, made his observation from a location about five miles south of the official weather station at the airport. The FAA AWOS-3 was inoperative. Examination of the airplane after the accident revealed a 1/2 inch layer of clear ice covering all the upper and lower airfoil surfaces of the airplane, from leading edges to between 1/3 and 1/2 of the chords. All antennas were coated with approximately 1/2 inch of clear ice. The airplane was not equipped with ice protection equipment except for pitot heat and windshield heat.
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; multi-engine sea; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 15,000 hours in all; 4,500 in this make and model; 226 in the last 90 days; 75 in the last 30 days; 14,800 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 13,478 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 22, 1998; 29 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 7,000 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W PT-6A (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: PTH Port Heiden AK at 8:50 pm
- Destination: AJC Chignik AK
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 260° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 3 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 1,500 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 19°F (-7°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
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.
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.