NTSB releases documents in fatal Alaska crash investigation

  • By Dan Joling
  • Thursday, April 23, 2015 10:05pm
  • News

ANCHORAGE — An Alaska commuter airline routinely failed to follow its own risk assessment plan in the days leading up to a crash that killed four people outside the village of St. Mary’s, according to documents released Thursday by the National Transportation Safety Board.

The operations manual of Hageland Aviation called for flight coordinators to assess risk before allowing flights to begin, according to an NTSB report on operational factors in the crash. However, flight coordinators were undertrained and pilots regularly took off without consulting them, according to testimony collected by investigators.

Employees had a “bush pilot mentality,” a Federal Aviation Administration manager told the NTSB. The report documents FAA frustrations with Hageland, the largest commuter operation in Alaska, and the agency made repeated requests for additional inspectors for oversight of Hageland.

The documents are part of the record that will precede a final determination of the cause of the fatal crash, said Clint Johnson, head of the NTSB Alaska office.

The company has made “monumental” upgrades, Johnson said, including an operations control center that reviews flights for risks.

“That’s definitely a step in the right direction,” he said.

Hageland, Frontier Flying Service and Era Aviation were under the corporate umbrella of HoTH Inc., now doing business as Ravn Alaska, Ravn Connect and Corvus Airlines.

Initial stages of the investigation, and other fatal or near-fatal incidents involving the companies, prompted the NTSB in May to issue an “urgent safety recommendation” that the FAA review of the businesses operating under HoTH Inc. to check for regulatory compliance and operational safety.

The latest documents showed the company could not produce records of training for the flight coordinators, who were supposed to judge conditions before releasing flights.

A July 2013 FAA safety inspection in Nome, for example, found that a manager and four ticket agents shared flight coordinator duties.

“They had not received any formal training, and were attempting to manage customer service, flight manifests, flight coordination and other duties at the same time,” an inspector noted.

Dale Hansen, an FAA manager who oversaw inspectors, told the NTSB that Hageland was making 1,200 flights per week with 56 aircraft. The FAA had three inspectors for the operation.

Most of the time, he told the NTSB, pilots did not have a conversation with flight coordinators about weather and other risks on the days they flew.

“They just came in and did their own weather report and left or whatever,” Hansen said. “So getting that to change was a major problem.”

The company made changes after the St. Mary’s crash, Hansen said.

Hageland marketing manager Charlotte Sieggreen in a statement said the company looks forward to the final report regarding the crash and will continue with the FAA and the NTSB to improve operations. The release date for the final report isn’t known.

More in News

Montessori materials sit on shelves in a classroom at Soldotna Montessori Charter School on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022 in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Education debate draws state attention to peninsula charter schools

Dunleavy would like to see a shift of authority over charter school approvals from local school districts to the state

The Nikiski Senior Center stands under sunlight in Nikiski, Alaska, on Thursday, March 14, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Support available for community caregivers

Nikiski Senior Center hosts relaunched Kenai Peninsula Family Caregiver Support Program

Flags flank the entrance to Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s office on Thursday, March 14, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Dunleavy vetoes bipartisan education bill

Senate Bill 140 passed the House by a vote of 38-2 and the Senate by a vote of 18-1 last month

The Alaska State Capitol on Friday, March 1, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
House passes bill altering wording of sex crimes against children

The bill is sponsored by Rep. Sarah Vance, R-Homer

Ben Meyer and Brandon Drzazgowski present to the Soldotna and Kenai Chambers of Commerce at the Soldotna Regional Sports Complex in Soldotna, Alaska, on Wednesday, March 13, 2024. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum gives update on streambank restoration

The watershed forum and other organizations are working to repair habitat and mitigate erosion

The entrance to the Kenai Police Department, as seen in Kenai, Alaska, on April 1, 2020. (Photo by Brian Mazurek/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai resident arrested on charges of arson

Kenai Police and Kenai Fire Department responded to a structure fire near Mountain View Elementary

Sen. Jesse Bjorkman, R-Nikiski, speaks in opposition to an executive order that would abolish the Board of Certified Direct-Entry Midwives during a joint legislative session on Tuesday, March 12, 2024 in Juneau, Alaska. (Ashlyn O'Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Legislature kills most of Dunleavy’s executive orders in rare joint session

All the proposed orders would have shuffled or eliminated the responsibilities of various state boards

Nikiski Middle/High School student Maggie Grenier testifies in favor of a base student allocation increase before the Alaska Senate Education Committee on Monday, Feb. 12, 2024, in Juneau, Alaska. (Screenshot)
Students report mixed responses from lawmakers in education discussions

Delegates from the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District lobbied the Alaska Legislature for more state funding and other education priorities

A child waves from the back of a truck as the 32nd annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade proceeds down Fireweed Street in Soldotna, Alaska on Friday, March 17, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
St. Patrick’s Day parade set for Sunday

The annual Sweeney’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, hosted by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce, kicks off at 2 p.m.

Most Read