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ANC12CA016

2011-12-21 · Kwigillingok, Alaska, United States · Minor · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PAGG

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

The pilot’s decision to continue visual flight into instrument meteorological conditions with moderate icing, which resulted in structural icing and an aerodynamic stall.

Factual narrative

The pilot reported he was flying in visual meteorological conditions for most of the flight. As he approached the airport, he inadvertently entered an area of instrument meteorological conditions that resulted in a buildup of ice on the airframe and windscreen. He attempted to make a 180 degree turn to exit the conditions, but was unable to maintain sufficient airspeed for flight, and the airplane descended and collided with terrain. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and wings. The pilot reported that he was flying in visual meteorological conditions for most of the flight. As he approached the airport, he inadvertently entered an area of instrument meteorological conditions that resulted in a buildup of ice on the airframe and windscreen. He attempted to make a 180-degree turn to exit the conditions but was unable to maintain sufficient airspeed for flight, and the airplane descended and collided with terrain. The impact resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, empennage, and wings. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

FAA avdata. C = Cause, F = Factor.

  • C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot - C
  • — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Airspeed-Attain/maintain not possible
  • — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Temp/humidity/pressure-Conducive to structural icing-Effect on equipment

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2011_ANC12CA016.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

Matched on aircraft type or causal vocabulary (icing, stall). All research papers