ANC90FA034

1990-02-17 · COLD BAY, Alaska, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport KVC

Aircraft involved

N27328 Piper PA-31-350 Fatal

Probable cause & findings

CONTINUED VFR FLIGHT BY THE PILOT INTO INSTRUMENT METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS (IMC), AND HIS FAILURE TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE ALTITUDE (OR CLEARANCE) FROM MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN. THE ADVERSE WEATHER AND TERRAIN CONDITIONS WERE RELATED FACTORS.

Factual narrative

THE SCHEDULED FLIGHT'S DEPARTURE FROM KING COVE WAS DELAYED DUE TO A PASSING SNOW SQUALL. A WITNESS AT THE AIRPORT STATED THAT THE WEATHER AT THE AIRPORT WAS GOOD WHEN THE FLIGHT DEPARTED; HOWEVER, HE NOTED DARK CLOUDS IN THE DIRECTION OF COLD BAY, THE INTENDED DESTINATION OF THE FLIGHT. THE AIRPLANE DID NOT REACH ITS DESTINATION. IT WAS FOUND, WHERE IT HAD IMPACTED TERRAIN NEAR THE TOP OF A RIDGELINE AT THE 1250 FOOT LEVEL, BETWEEN KING COVE & COLD BAY. ABOUT 8 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST AT COLD BAY, WEATHER REPORTS INDICATED THERE WERE SNOW SHOWERS OF UNKNOWN INTENSITY IN ALL QUADRANTS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_ANC90FA034.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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