Accident Cessna 208B Grand Caravan N12022,

ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 324123

Date:	Wednesday 8 October 1997
Time:	07:23
Type:	Cessna 208B Grand Caravan
Owner/operator:	Scenic Airlines
Registration:	N12022
MSN:	208B0432
Year of manufacture:	1995
Total airframe hrs:	2599 hours
Cycles:	3680 flights
Engine model:	Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-114A
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 9 / Occupants: 9
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed, written off
Category:	Accident
Location:	33 km SW of Montrose, CO - United States of America
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Montrose County Airport, CO (MTJ/KMTJ)
Destination airport:	Page Airport, AZ (PGA/KPGA)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Accident investigation report completed and information captured

Narrative:
The flight was an on-demand air charter on behalf of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI). The Cessna Caravan was to carry out a return flight from Page (PGA) to Montrose County (MTJ). The return flight to Page was scheduled to depart Montrose at 17:00 on October 7, but was delayed to the next day because of bad weather en route. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed upon takeoff and a company visual flight rules (VFR) flight plan was used. The flight took off at 07:05 from runway 17 of the Montrose Airport which is located at an elevation of 5,759 feet msl (1762 m). While climbing through an altitude of 10,000 feet, the target airplane's course changed from southwest to northwest, back to southwest, and then made a sharp turn to the right. At an altitude of 15,400 ft msl the airplane entered an uncontrolled descent. It descended in a steep flight path angle (about -65 degrees) at an approximate flat pitch attitude, and little indication of forward speed. The Caravan struck terrain among 60-foot-high pine trees at the 9,900 foot (3030 m) level on the Uncompahgre Plateau.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Safety Board determined that the probable cause of the accident was the pilot's failure to maintain sufficient airspeed for undetermined reasons while maneuvering the airplane near maximum gross weight and aft cg in or near instrument meteorological conditions, which resulted in a loss of control and entry into a stall/spin. Factors contributing to the accident were the pilot's improper in-flight planning and decision-making and his failure to use proper stall/spin recovery techniques."

Accident investigation: