NTSB Factual Report

On July 31, 2006, about 1130 Alaska daylight time, a float-equipped, de Havilland DHC-3 airplane, N93356, sustained substantial damage when it collided with the surface of the water during landing at Berners Bay, about 60 miles north-northwest of Juneau, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Ward Air, Inc., Juneau, as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand passenger flight under Title 14, CFR Part 135 when the accident occurred. The pilot and two passengers were not injured. Three additional passengers received minor injuries, and one passenger was seriously injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The airplane departed Juneau about 1110.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on August 1, the director of operations for the operator said the float-equipped airplane was delivering passengers to Berners Bay. He said the pilot told him he had made a hard landing, and that one of the floats had separated from the airplane. He said the pilot told him the fuselage had filled with water, but the passengers escaped with only minor injuries.

On August 3, the left rear seat passenger told the NTSB IIC in a telephone interview that he wasn't aware the airplane was landing, and that the airplane was in a nose low, right-banked turn when it struck the water. He stated he was used to flying in float planes, although he had never flown in the same type as the accident airplane, and expected to see the pilot "pump down the flaps, slow down, and level off prior to landing." He reported he thought they were still making the approach. He said his leg and hand were broken during the accident, and that he felt his injuries were due to being struck by unrestrained cargo stacked inside the aft fuselage door. He indicated the fuselage filled with water from the front, and passengers had to scramble over cargo piled at the aft doorway to escape.

During a telephone conversation with the IIC on August 8, a witness who watched the accident from the ground, said there was fog and low clouds in the area, and that the surface visibility was about 1 mile at the time of the accident. He said he watched the accident airplane circle overhead, and presumed he was waiting for an airplane already at the dock to leave and make room. The witness said as the airplane circled, it descended, and he said he thought to himself, " If he doesn't pull up he's going to hit the water." The witness said the right float and wing hit the water in a right-banked turn, and that he never heard the airplane reduce power, or saw the airplane level off before the impact.

In a written statement dated August 2, the pilot wrote that at the time of the accident, there was a 2500 foot overcast with 5 miles visibility in rain, and that the rains had turned the glassy water in the cove a milky color. He also reported flat-light conditions. He reported that he was in a descending right base leg turn looking for the dock as a reference to roll out on final. He wrote that before he was able to see the dock, the airplane impacted the water.

NTSB Probable Cause

The pilot's failure to maintain altitude/clearance during approach, which resulted in the airplane impacting the surface of the water. Factors associated with the accident were the flat-light and glassy water conditions, which affected the pilot's ability to see the surface of the water.