What happened
On May 6, 2023, at approximately 14:50 Pacific daylight time, a DeHavillandum DHC-6-300, registration N142SA, was involved in an accident near Boulder City, Nevada. The aircraft was operating as a Part 135 non-scheduled air taxi flight, traveling from Grand Canyon Bar Ten Airstrip (1Z1) in Whitmore, Arizona, to Boulder City Municipal Airport (BVU).
While enroute, the pilot observed adverse weather and diverted south toward Henderson Executive Airport (HND) as a precaution. After weather conditions improved east of BVU, the pilot turned back toward the destination airport. Approximately 7 miles southeast of BVU, the aircraft encountered light turbulence and hail for a duration of about 5 to 6 seconds. The flight concluded with an uneventful landing at BVU. There were no injuries among the two pilots and 11 passengers.
At the time of the event, a convective SIGMET was active for an area 20 miles southeast of Las Vegas, indicating an isolated thunderstorm moving from 300 degrees at 15 knots with cloud tops near 33,000 feet.
The investigation
Post-flight examination of the aircraft revealed substantial damage to both wings, the vertical stabilizer, and the horizontal stabilizers.