ANC17MA001

2016-10-02 · Togiak, Alaska, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport PATG

Aircraft involved

N208SD Cessna 208B Fatal

Probable cause & findings

The flight crew's decision to continue the visual flight rules flight into deteriorating visibility and their failure to perform an immediate escape maneuver after entry into instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in controlled flight into terrain (CFIT). Contributing to the accident were (1) Hageland's allowance of routine use of the terrain inhibit switch for inhibiting the terrain awareness and warning system alerts and inadequate guidance for uninhibiting the alerts, which reduced the margin of safety, particularly in deteriorating visibility; (2) Hageland's inadequate crew resource management (CRM) training; (3) the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to ensure that Hageland's approved CRM training contained all the required elements of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations 135.330; and (4) Hageland's CFIT avoidance ground training, which was not tailored to the company's operations and did not address current CFIT-avoidance technologies.

Factual narrative

The NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-18/02. On October 2, 2016, about 1157 Alaska daylight time, Ravn Connect flight 3153, a turbine-powered Cessna 208B Grand Caravan airplane, N208SD, collided with steep, mountainous terrain about 10 nautical miles northwest of Togiak Airport (PATG), Togiak, Alaska. The two commercial pilots and the passenger were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The scheduled commuter flight was operated under visual flight rules by Hageland Aviation Services, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at PATG (which had the closest weather observing station to the accident site), but a second company flight crew (whose flight departed about 2 minutes after the accident airplane and initially followed a similar route) reported that they observed unexpected fog, changing clouds, and the potential for rain along the accident route. Company flight-following procedures were in effect. The flight departed Quinhagak Airport, Quinhagak, Alaska, about 1133 and was en route to PATG. The NTSB's full report is available at http://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/AccidentReports.aspx. The Aircraft Accident Report number is NTSB/AAR-18/02. On October 2, 2016, about 1157 Alaska daylight time, Ravn Connect flight 3153, a turbine-powered Cessna 208B Grand Caravan airplane, N208SD, collided with steep, mountainous terrain about 10 nautical miles northwest of Togiak Airport (PATG), Togiak, Alaska. The two commercial pilots and the passenger were killed, and the airplane was destroyed. The scheduled commuter flight was operated under visual flight rules by Hageland Aviation Services, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, under the provisions of Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at PATG (which had the closest weather observing station to the accident site), but a second company flight crew (whose flight departed about 2 minutes after the accident airplane and initially followed a similar route) reported that they observed unexpected fog, changing clouds, and the potential for rain along the accident route. Company flight-following procedures were in effect. The flight departed Quinhagak Airport, Quinhagak, Alaska, about 1133 and was en route to PATG. 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-Flight crew
C Personnel issues-Action/decision-Action-Lack of action-Flight crew
C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Altitude-Not attained/maintained
C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Below VFR minima-Decision related to condition
C Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Ceiling/visibility/precip-Below VFR minima-Response/compensation
C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Mountainous/hilly terrain-Response/compensation
C Environmental issues-Physical environment-Terrain-Mountainous/hilly terrain-Contributed to outcome
F Organizational issues-Management-Policy/procedure-Adequacy of policy/proc-Operator
F Organizational issues-Support/oversight/monitoring-Training-CRM/MRM training-Operator
F Organizational issues-Support/oversight/monitoring-Training-CRM/MRM training-FAA/Regulator
F Organizational issues-Support/oversight/monitoring-Training-(general)-Operator
— Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Navigation system-Ground proximity system-Not used/operated
— Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Navigation system-Ground proximity system-Related operating info
— Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Navigation system-Ground proximity system-Capability exceeded
— Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Navigation system-Ground proximity system-Design
— Environmental issues-Operating environment-Communication system-VHF/HF radio-Not specified
— Environmental issues-Operating environment-Meteorological services-Meteo equip coverage/avail-Not specified
— Organizational issues-Support/oversight/monitoring-Safety programs-(general)-FAA/Regulator
— Organizational issues-Support/oversight/monitoring-Safety programs-(general)-Other institution/organization
— Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Indicating/recording systems-Data recorders (flight/maint)-Not installed/available

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_2016_ANC17MA001.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 (controlled flight into terrain, cfit, crm). All research papers