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NTSB Media Briefing - Cape Newenham, Alaska, Cessna 441 Airplane Crash

Channel: NTSBgov · Duration: 18:47 · source

[00:00] All right, thank you for joining us, everyone. [00:15] Clint Johnson, the Chief of the NTSB Alaska Regional Office, will provide a briefing on [00:22] the investigation into Thursday's crash of a Cessna 441 airplane near Cape Newenham, [00:28] Alaska. [00:29] His name and title is on the slide you're looking at right now and the spelling of his name. [00:35] Your cameras and microphones are turned off. [00:39] When the Q&A starts, please use the raise hand icon at the top of the screen to ask a [00:46] question. [00:47] If you're joining from a mobile device, the raise hand icon can be found on the right [00:51] side of the emoji reactions menu that opens when you select the three dots at the bottom [00:57] of the screen. [00:58] We will call on you in the order that you raise your hand and let you know when we have [01:02] unmuted your microphone to ask your question. [01:05] Please note it can take a few seconds for your unmute button to work after we enable [01:11] it. [01:12] If for some reason your audio input isn't working, please send your questions to mediarelations [01:18] at NTSB.gov and I will read it to Clint. [01:22] Again, that's media relations, all one word, mediarelations at NTSB.gov. [01:29] The entire briefing, including the Q&A, will be recorded and posted on our YouTube channel [01:35] NTSB.gov later today. [01:38] And with that, I will turn it over to Clint Johnson. [01:40] Well, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. [01:43] As Peter mentioned, my name is Clint Johnson. [01:45] I'm the chief of the NTSB office here in Anchorage, Alaska. [01:49] First and foremost, I'd like to offer our sincere condolences to the family, to the [01:55] operators, family as well. [01:58] And we've all been doing this a long time. [02:01] It never gets easier. [02:02] So again, our sincere condolences, not only from Alaska, but nationwide. [02:08] What I'd like to do in this very short amount of time that we have together is give you [02:11] a little bit of an idea of where we were, where we are now, and ultimately what our [02:16] goal is and where we're going. [02:19] This accident happened yesterday, unfortunately. [02:22] On August 20th, at about 11.45 local time, it involved a Cessna conquest, 441 is the [02:30] model number. [02:31] We know it as a conquest, a Cessna conquest. [02:34] It's a twin engine turboprop airplane powered by Honeywell TPE-331 engines. [02:42] And the airframe is made by Textron or Cessna. [02:46] This airplane was operated, it's a part 135 on-demand charter between Anchorage and [02:51] Kate Newenham. [02:53] The operator is Security Aviation that is located here at Anchorage International. [02:59] And they were the two pilots were employed by Security Aviation. [03:04] If you're not from Alaska, as far as the location of Kate Newenham, it's very remote. [03:09] Even for us, we deal in very remote locations. [03:12] This community or this radar site is located about 460 miles west, southwest of Anchorage [03:21] and along the ocean. [03:23] We had a total of eight occupants on board, two pilots employed by Security Aviation, [03:31] as I mentioned before. [03:33] Two members of the Army Corps of Engineers. [03:37] And then four contractors that were being transported to Kate Newenham. [03:43] To give you a little bit of an idea as far as how this flight came about, this flight [03:46] left Anchorage yesterday right around 9.15 AM. [03:51] As I mentioned before, this accident happened about 11.45 AM. [03:56] What we understand from reviewing very preliminary data as far as air traffic control and [04:02] also ADS-B and radar data, is this accident happened after one missed approach. [04:09] And what I mean by missed approach is this airplane was operating in IFR or instrument [04:14] meteorological conditions, which means the pilot or the pilots in this case were navigating [04:21] solely by instruments. [04:23] Weather conditions would not allow them to actually visually see the ground. [04:28] What we understand is after the second missed approach, Anchorage Center lost contact with [04:35] the airplane and then a search began shortly after that. [04:40] And shortly after that is when the NTSB was initially notified that there was what we [04:46] referred to as an all-naught, which is a missing airplane. [04:49] And we began monitoring the situation. [04:53] Where we are right now is the NTSB has actually launched a six-member team to Anchorage here. [05:00] That team is going to be led by Eric Gutierrez. [05:03] He is a senior air safety investigator out of our WPR office, West Rim Pacific, which [05:08] is located in Seattle. [05:10] He's going to have six team members. [05:11] It's going to be joining him. [05:13] They're en route to Anchorage here right now. [05:15] Those various teams that we're going to be dealing with is meteorologically, weather [05:21] operations, airworthiness, and also air traffic control, ATC. [05:28] Parties to the investigation will be Cessna or Textron in this case. [05:31] They are the airframe manufacturer. [05:33] We'll be relying on them as far as their technical expertise, as far as the airplane goes. [05:39] Same thing goes for Honeywell, the engine manufacturer, which is, like I said before, [05:44] this airplane is outfitted with turboprop TPE Honeywell engines. [05:50] Security aviation will also likely be a party to the investigation as well as the FAA. [05:57] We do understand now that the FAA is also launching one of their investigators from [06:01] Washington DC to join the group. [06:03] I'll give you a little bit of an idea as far as the turn of events that happened yesterday. [06:10] As I mentioned before, this accident happened about 1145. [06:14] The weather was down at the time, so searchers had a little bit of a hard time finding [06:18] the wreckage. [06:19] Late in the afternoon, they notified us that the wreckage was located. [06:24] There was unfortunately a post-craft fire, and the wreckage was found in an area of [06:29] rising terrain about a third or a quarter of a mile to the west of runway 15, the arrival [06:38] runway that they were headed to. [06:41] My understanding is that the wreckage was highly fragmented as well, so now we move [06:47] into a recovery effort as far as the wreckage recovery portion goes. [06:52] But again, as I mentioned before, our main focus right now is to be able to get our [06:57] team out to Cape Newenham and begin our on-site investigation. [07:03] And with that, Peter, I'll turn it back over to you for questions. [07:06] Thanks, Clint. [07:08] Once again, your cameras and microphones are turned off. [07:12] When the Q&A starts, I'm just going to need you to raise your hand, and then we'll call [07:18] on you in the order in which your hand was raised. [07:22] If you're joining from a mobile device, the raise hand icon can be found on the right [07:25] side of the emoji reactions menu that open when you select the three dots at the bottom [07:30] of the screen. [07:32] Keep in mind, when we unmute your microphone, it can take a few seconds for your unmute [07:38] button to work after we enable it. [07:41] If for some reason your audio input isn't working, please send questions to [07:46] media relations at NTSB.gov, media relations one word at NTSB.gov, and I will read it. [07:53] Before you ask your question, please identify your, please provide your name and affiliation. [08:03] We'll switch over to questions now. [08:05] If you have questions, please raise your hand. [08:08] Okay, Coon and Johnson, I am unmuting your mic now. [08:17] You may go ahead and ask your question, and please identify yourself and your affiliation. [08:23] Okay, how about now? [08:27] Can you hear me? [08:31] We can hear you. [08:32] Okay, great. [08:33] Thank you. [08:34] Yeah. [08:35] Johnson, Coon, Alaska's news source. [08:37] I was just curious if the Cape Newenham military facilities radar captured the plane's final [08:43] flight path, and when NTSB sort of anticipates securing that data. [08:51] And then if I can ask a quick follow-up, also just if you sort of have an anticipated [08:56] timeline for releasing the names of the victims. [09:03] So yes, to answer your question there, Johnson, yes, as far as radar data, the local radar [09:10] area or environment, the radar at Cape Newenham did capture the accident. [09:16] We had very good radar archive data to be able to go back to. [09:21] We're in the process of gathering that information. [09:23] We have preliminary plot data that we've been using to start to tell the story [09:28] here. [09:29] But again, that ATC group and that air traffic control group is going to be the one that's [09:32] going to be drilling down into the real details of that. [09:37] As far as the release of names, NTSB does not release names. [09:43] That is not our swim lane. [09:45] So we probably look to either the Army in this case or to the state troopers. [09:50] But NTSB does not release names of victims. [09:55] And Alina and Naden, go ahead and unmute, identify yourself and your affiliate, and [10:00] proceed with your question. [10:02] Hi, yes, my name is Alina Naden, and I'm with Alaska Public Media and KNBA. [10:08] And I was wondering, was the weather unexpected when the flight departed? [10:15] So part of a preflight plan is obviously the crew is going to be checking weather. [10:21] And typically, there's an electronic road that we can follow to be able to see exactly [10:29] what they were received. [10:31] Keep in mind, when they arrive oversight, they're going to be talking to Anchorage Center. [10:35] They're going to be relaying back and forth as far as weather conditions. [10:39] But again, probably the best way to answer your question is that is exactly what the [10:42] air traffic control group is going to be looking at. [10:45] What data did the flight crew have when they started this approach? [10:49] What data did they have when they left? [10:51] So we're going to be looking very closely at that, but it's way too early to draw [10:54] any conclusions at this point. [10:58] So Zaz Hollander from the Anchorage Daily News, you have been unmuted. [11:02] Go ahead and unmute yourself and ask the question. [11:18] Hi, thanks. [11:19] This is Zaz from ADN. [11:20] I have a two-part question. [11:22] Clint, I'm wondering if there were any communications from the accident pilot with [11:27] ATC regarding why they missed that first approach? [11:31] And are there any indications that they were going around again? [11:36] So for, I guess, a third approach when the plane crashed? [11:41] Yeah, so Zaz, the best way to answer that is there are procedures in place. [11:46] And the long story is, if the pilot is not able to see the runway at a certain [11:50] pre-determined altitude or distance from the runway, it's required by [11:55] regulation to do a missed approach. [11:58] That's a very common practice that, you know, instrument-rated pilots or [12:04] airplanes that are operating in an instrument atmosphere or environment. [12:10] So there are policies or procedures that they follow. [12:13] And I'm sorry, on the second one, what was the second part of that Zaz? [12:17] Yeah, it was whether there's any indication that the pilot, when the plane [12:22] crashed, was the pilot going back around again for another approach? [12:30] We don't know that. [12:31] And we are in the process of pulling those tapes and those recorded [12:36] archive data to be able to get a better idea of the actual sequence of events here. [12:41] And again, that is exactly what the ATC group is going to be looking at very, very closely here. [12:46] All we know right now is the basic information. [12:50] But again, that ATC group is going to be drilling down into those fine details. [12:57] And Becky Bohr, you have been unmuted, so unmute yourself and ask a question. [13:16] No, it was a bit of a delay. [13:21] Becky, are you having a little technical challenge here? [13:24] You are definitely unmuted on my end. [13:30] All right. [13:32] While Becky tries to get some audio there, I'm going to go to Alison Verspiel. [13:38] Let me unmute you, Alison, from Bloomberg. [13:42] You're unmuted, so you may proceed. [13:45] Hi, I just wanted to clarify. [13:47] So you said that the plane crashed. [13:50] Was it after two missed approaches at the airport or just one? [13:54] I just wanted to clarify how many. [13:56] So we understand that they attempted one approach. [13:59] That ended in a missed approach. [14:01] Okay. [14:01] And the accident happened on the second attempt. [14:05] Got it. [14:06] Okay, thank you. [14:09] Just going back to Becky, do you have your mic working yet? [14:14] Not yet, apparently. [14:17] Okay. [14:18] So KYUK, you have been unmuted. [14:23] Please unmute yourself, and you can go ahead with your question. [14:26] We may be having some looks like some little bit of technical challenges here. [14:52] Get that one more minute. [14:53] Let me just see. [14:56] Okay, I do have the question that was emailed from Becky. [15:14] Clint, Becky is from Associated Press, Juneau. [15:18] Can you clarify the type of terrain? [15:21] So, the airport runway 15 is surrounded by rising terrain, basically at the departure end as well, [15:30] and on both sides, and hopefully that answers your question there. [15:36] And Alina, I hope I'm saying this correctly from the New York Times. [15:42] The question is, what were the weather conditions at the time? [15:46] So, again, that is what that weather group is going to be looking at. [15:50] It's very dynamic in this area, as you could well imagine, with the, where it's located. [15:57] Again, that is what the weather group is going to be looking very, very closely at. [16:01] But more importantly, probably what was relayed to the pilots and did that play a part in the accident. [16:08] But stand by for more information on that. [16:11] Okay, and Johnson, Cune, you have another question. Go ahead. [16:16] Clint, are you able to talk to the specific logistical challenges you might be facing [16:21] in recovering a, recovering wreckage from this, you know, steep, restricted military site? [16:30] Yeah, so, obviously getting there is going to be a challenge, number one. [16:35] We're, we're probably going to end up having to charter an airplane down there, ourselves. [16:40] That's easily overcome, no problem there. [16:42] But we do understand that the, the wreckage is in an area of steep mountainous terrain. [16:47] Again, a ways from the airport, about a quarter of a mile from the airport. [16:51] So again, as I mentioned before, this is going to be a helicopter recovery. [16:54] So we're going to have to work with the, the recovery crews, wreckage recovery crews, [17:00] to be able to get a helicopter all the way down there, get the wreckage back to, to Cape Newenhand, [17:07] and then probably fly it back with a larger car cargo airplane. [17:11] That's very standard for us up here. That's standard operating procedures. [17:14] That, that is nothing out of the norm. [17:17] But again, the location and the terrain obviously is going to be a bit of a challenge for us. [17:22] And from KYUK by email, Evan, Evan Erickson, [17:28] is this the first fatal crash related to operation of these sites or in this area? [17:33] Or is it similar to any other crashes? [17:37] I would have to do a little bit of research on that one. [17:39] And we can get back to you, circle back to you later on there. [17:41] I'd have to do a little bit of research on that one. [17:44] And I would have to do a little bit of research on that one. [17:46] And I would have to do a little bit of research on that one. [17:49] I'd have to do a little bit of research and I don't want to speculate on that. [17:55] Okay, very good. [17:56] And we see if there's any more questions, stand by. [18:01] And it looks like that's the, that's the last question we have. [18:04] So this will conclude today's media briefing. [18:10] NTSB media relations can be reached at media relations at NTSB.gov. [18:16] And as I mentioned earlier, this meeting, this briefing will be available on our YouTube channel, [18:24] NTSBgov, in about an hour. [18:26] And we'll tweet a link out to it, to the briefing when it's ready. [18:31] And that tweet will come from our xfeed at NTSB underscore newsroom. [18:38] Thank you for your participation.