Beech 1900C accident near St. Mary'S, Alaska, September 12, 1998
On September 12, 1998 at about 7:15 am local time, a Beech 1900C, registered N1563C, was substantially damaged in an accident near St. Mary'S, Alaska (St. Mary'S airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to follow the aircraft checklist, and an inadvertent wheels up landing. A factor was the pilot's distraction due to a malfunction of the flap system
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 12, 1998 · about 7:15 am local time
- Place
- St. Mary'S, Alaska · St. Mary'S · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Beech 1900C · all 1900Cs on the register
- Registration
- N1563C · no longer on the register · serial UC-20
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The certificated airline transport pilot was conducting a CFR Part 135 cargo flight to a remote airport. He was making a visual approach during dark night conditions in a twin-engine turboprop airplane. On the downwind portion of the landing approach, the pilot selected flaps down, but nothing happened. The pilot's trouble shooting did not remedy the flap problem, and he elected to make a flaps-up landing. The airplane settled onto the runway with the landing gear retracted. The airplane received damage to the underside, aft end of the fuselage, the engine nacelles, and propellers. The airplane is equipped with a landing gear warning horn, and a red cautionary annunciator light in the landing gear handle. The operator reported there was no mechanical malfunction with the airplane.
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; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 11,288 hours in all; 3,215 in this make and model; 205 in the last 90 days; 62 in the last 30 days; 8,415 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 22,935 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, September 1, 1998; 135 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 17,710 lb
- Seats: 3
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PT6A-65B (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: ANC Anchorage AK
- Destination: PASM
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 16, 6,003 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 083° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 46°F (8°C), dew point 43°F (6°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:55 am from PAS
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.