Fatal Cessna 441 crash near Alaska radar site followed missed approach in fog

A Cessna 441 Conquest operated by Security Aviation crashed into high terrain near Cape Newenham airport in Alaska on 20 August, killing all eight people on board. The victims included two pilots, two US Army Corps of Engineers personnel, and four contractors, according to investigators.

The aircraft had been chartered under Part 135 rules to fly personnel from Anchorage to the remote coastal airport, which hosts a long-range radar site. It departed Anchorage at around 09:15 and crashed roughly 11:45 near the airport after carrying out a missed approach.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board's Alaska region chief, Clint Johnson, weather at the time included fog and overcast skies at about 300 feet, with visibility dropping to roughly 400 metres. He said preliminary information indicates the pilots were flying in instrument conditions and were unable to see the ground. Johnson described local weather patterns in the area as often highly changeable.

Air traffic controllers in Anchorage lost contact with the aircraft after the missed approach was flown. Searchers reportedly had difficulty locating the wreckage, which was eventually found several hundred metres west of the runway used for the approach, in an area of rising terrain. Johnson said the debris field was heavily fragmented and that the aircraft had caught fire after impact.

Terrain near the airport rises sharply, with high ground beyond the runway reaching over 2,000 feet in places. The aircraft involved, registered N128EZ, was built in 1979. Security Aviation, which also operates Learjet 35 aircraft, said it is cooperating fully with investigators and would not speculate on the cause while the inquiry continues.