NTSB CAROL · Event
Event DCA20MA002
Registry · N686PA
FAA Aircraft Registry record.
Make / Model
EA VISION J-150
ADS-B equipped
Yes — Mode-S A91AC7
Registrant of record
POYNTER AERIAL AG LLC
Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
The landing gear manufacturer’s incorrect wiring of the wheel speed transducer harnesses on the left main landing gear during overhaul. The incorrect wiring caused the antiskid system not to function as intended, resulting in the failure of the left outboard tire and a significant loss of the airplane’s braking ability, which led to the runway overrun. Contributing to the accident were (1) Saab’s design of the wheel speed transducer wire harnesses, which did not consider and protect against human error during maintenance; (2) the Federal Aviation Administration’s lack of consideration of the runway safety area dimensions at Unalaska Airport during the authorization process that allowed the Saab 2000 to operate at the airport; and (3) the flight crewmembers’ inappropriate decision, due to their plan continuation bias, to land on a runway with a reported tailwind that exceeded the airplane manufacturer’s limit. The safety margin was further reduced because of PenAir’s failure to correctly apply its company-designated pilot-in-command airport qualification policy, which allowed the accident captain to operate at one of the most challenging airports in PenAir’s route system with limited experience at the airport and in the Saab 2000 airplane.
Factual narrative
On October 17, 2019, about 1740 Alaska daylight time, PenAir flight 3296, a Saab 2000, N686PA, overran the runway while landing at the Thomas Madsen Airport (PADU), Unalaska, Alaska. The airplane passed through the airport perimeter fence, crossed a road, and came to rest on shoreline rocks. Of the 42 passengers and crewmembers on board, 1 passenger was fatally injured, and several other passengers sustained serious or minor injuries. The airplane received substantial damage. The regularly scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 121 from Ted Stevens International Airport (KANC), Anchorage, Alaska, to PADU. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12
NTSB Findings
Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).
- — Personnel issues-Task performance-Maintenance-Scheduled/routine maintenance-Other
- — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Main landing gear-Incorrect service/maintenance
- — Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-(general)-Attain/maintain not possible
- — Personnel issues-Action/decision-Info processing/decision-Decision making/judgment-Pilot
- — Environmental issues-Conditions/weather/phenomena-Wind-Tailwind-Decision related to condition
- — Organizational issues-Development-Design-Equipment design-Manufacturer
- — Aircraft-Aircraft systems-Landing gear system-Land gear sys wiring-Design
- — Organizational issues-Management-Policy/procedure-(general)-Operator
- — Organizational issues-Support/oversight/monitoring-Oversight-Oversight of operation-FAA/Regulator
- — Environmental issues-Operating environment-Airport facilities/design-(general)-Decision related to condition
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_2019_DCA20MA002.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
Full investigation docket on
data.ntsb.gov ↗.
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Related research
What the literature says.
Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (maintenance). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2015 · Conference paper
Assessing the Commercial Aviation Impact of the Year 2000 Open Skies Agreements between the United States and African Countries with Longstanding Flights
The U.S. started a comprehensive campaign towards Open Skies agreement in 1992. The major benefits of Open sky agreement are reported to include increase of passenger and cargo volume between partners…
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2000 · Industry report (AQRR)
Airline Quality Rating 2000
The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method of comparing airline performance on combined multiple criteria.
- NASA NTRS 2019 · Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Convectively Induced Turbulence Encountered During NASA's Fall-2000 Flight Experiments
Aircraft encounters with atmospheric turbulence are a leading cause of in-flight injuries aboard commercial airliners and cost the airlines millions of dollars each year.
- NASA NTRS 2011 · Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Directions in civil aviation 1980-2000
The following future directions in civil aviation are considered: (1) greater economy and efficiency in passenger and cargo air service at subsonic speeds, and improved utility and safety for general …
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 1997 · Journal article (JAAER)
Beyond 2000: The Undiscovered Frontier of a Career as an Aviation Professor
In an era in which aviation research and scholarly activities have increased immensely (Truitt & Kaps, 1995), the demand for qualified aviation faculty members will inevitably increase.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 1995 · Journal article (JAAER)
Battle 2000: The New Jet Entrants Versus the Regional Partners?
An airline economics war that will determine the future pattern of air service in many U.S. short- and intermediate-haul markets is under way.
Browse the full corpus — academia portal ↗