| Crash location | 37.155000°N, 150.469167°W
Reported location is a long distance from the NTSB's reported nearest city. This often means that the location has a typo, or is incorrect. |
| Nearest city | Anchorage, AK
61.218056°N, 149.900278°W 1662.8 miles away |
| Tail number | N42NC |
|---|---|
| Accident date | 15 Jun 2005 |
| Aircraft type | Aerospatiale ATR-42-300 |
| Additional details: | None |
On June 15, 2005, about 2345 Alaska daylight time, an Aerospatiale ATR-42-300 airplane, N42NC, sustained substantial damage resulting from a lightning strike during a normal descent, about 32 miles north of Anchorage, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as Flight Yukon 24, by Northern Air Cargo Inc., of Anchorage, as an instrument flight rules (IFR) non-scheduled cargo flight under Title 14, CFR Part 121, when the accident occurred. The two flight crew members and a company maintenance person were not injured. Instrument meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan was filed. The flight originated at Fairbanks International Airport, Fairbanks, Alaska, about 2241.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on June 16, the Director of Safety for the operator said the flight was in meteorological conditions (IMC) and descending normally into the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Anchorage, when it was struck by lightning. He said the airplane was equipped with functioning radar, which was knocked off-line along with several other electrical systems, but most of the systems were restored in-flight. He said the airplane landed without incident, but sustained structural damage to the left aileron, requiring replacement of the aileron.
In a written statement to the NTSB dated June 17, the pilot wrote that after takeoff, they deviated to the southwest around a thunderstorm, and that there were numerous thunderstorms north of the Alaska Range, and in the Fairbanks area. The pilot wrote that after clearing the thunderstorm he was cleared to Talkeetna, Alaska, and that most of the observed thunderstorms were behind them. He stated that after flying through clear air, they entered instrument meteorological conditions, and after receiving clearance from Anchorage Center, started a normal descent for the destination airport in smooth air. He wrote that he and the first officer simultaneously noticed that the radio magnetic indicator needles "spun around in different directions." He did not indicate what was observed on the radar screen. He continued, " an instant later, we were struck by lightning."
A lightning strike during a normal descent for landing, which resulted in structural damage to the airplane's left aileron.