Date:	Friday 27 March 1981
Time:	16:32 LT
Type:	Piper PA-31-350 Chieftain
Owner/operator:	Galena Air Service Inc
Registration:	N66856
MSN:	31-7405164
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	Galena, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska -   United States of America
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi
Departure airport:	Hughes Airport, Hughes, Alaska (HUS/PAHU)
Destination airport:	Edward G. Pitka Sr. Airport, Galena, Alaska (GAL/PAGA)
Investigating agency:	NTSB
Confidence Rating:	Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources

Narrative:
Written off (destroyed 27 March 1981 when crashed at Galena, Yukon-Koyukuk Census Area, Alaska (Near 39'65" N, 119'65" W). During go-around, began slight climb ,entered steep left bank and crashed. Flaps fully down. Pilot on ground reported one engine failed. Reported weather was clear with unlimited visibility.

Aircraft was flared for landing when without explanation it went into a dramatic left turn as it climbed with one engine. It appeared that the left wingtip and the nose of the aircraft struck the ice of the Yukon River at the same time, approximately 10 feet from the bank of the river. All four souls on board (pilot and three passengers) were lost.

I had serviced that airplane and was the Air Traffic Control Watch Supervisor on duty at the time of the crash. The magneto in the right engine failed.

I was one of the two tower controllers on duty at the time of the crash. I was working the ground control and flight data positions when the pilot of N66856 announced he was executing a go-around. As he applied power, the aircraft entered a steep left bank and disappeared from view behind the dike surrounding the airfield. It appeared the gear had either been retracted or had not been lowered, possibly causing the go-around, as the bottom of the fuselage appeared clean from my vantage point. It was rumored that the right engine on N66856 had experienced a similar malfunction during a maintenance run shortly before the crash, but I cannot substantiate the accuracy of that statement.

As I had no aircraft in ground control, I was reading a newspaper which is why I didn't notice the landing gear was retracted on approach. When the pilot announced he was executing a go-around, I saw there was no gear. The Air Force omitted my admission that I did not notice the landing gear was up.. I have my original handwritten statement as well as a copy that admin typed up and submitted to the NTSB.The omission of my statement on the landing gear was the only difference. The NTSB conclusions are inaccurate due to that omission. As soon as power was applied, a faulty magneto caused an engine to fail. It was immediate upon applying power, and there was no time to retract flaps or landing gear at an altitude of only about 100 feet. Failure by the pilot to lower landing gear was the direct cause of the accident. Failure by the tower controllers to notice retracted gear and engine failure are contributing causes, not improper use of flaps or failure to maintain airspeed.

1. Eyewitness reports
2. NTSB Identification: ANC81FA037 at https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief.aspx?ev_id=27747&key=0
3. FAA: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=66856
4. http://planecrashmap.com/plane/ak/N66856/
5. [LINK NOT WORKING ANYMORE:http://www.baaa-acro.com/1981/archives/crash-of-a-piper-pa-31-navajo-chieftain-in-galena-4-killed/]

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
25-Feb-2008 12:00	ASN archive	Added
24-Nov-2014 07:12	CRSnipes	Updated [Narrative]
26-Apr-2015 07:18	SAThompson	Updated [Narrative]
13-May-2015 09:38	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative]
25-Jan-2016 09:26	SAThompson	Updated [Location]
26-Sep-2017 21:11	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Time, Location]
27-Mar-2021 17:41	Steven Thompson	Updated [Narrative]