Accident Synopsis
A commercial pilot operating under Title 14, CFR Part 135 was conducting a scheduled passenger flight returning from a remote coastal village. The flight departed during dark night conditions after poor weather caused a delay from its originally scheduled daylight departure. The intended route crossed remote, unpopulated terrain without ground-based light sources to provide visual cues. When the flight failed to arrive at its destination, an aerial search was initiated.
Wreckage and Investigation
Search crews located the fragmented wreckage along the pilot's intended route, approximately 15 miles northeast of the departure airport. The airplane had collided with flat, featureless, snow-covered terrain. The debris trail measured about 575 feet in length. All major components of the airplane were found at the main wreckage site. No preaccident anomalies were noted with the aircraft during the postaccident examination.
Responding aviation rescue crews reported that due to the dark night conditions, the absence of ground-based light sources, and the lack of visual cues in the accident area, night vision goggles (NVG) were required to discern topographical features.
Pilot Experience
A review of the pilot's personal flight logbook revealed that the pilot had logged approximately 322 hours of flight time at night. Of those, all but 32.6 hours were accrued while acting as second-in-command.