Federal investigators have released their reports on two fatal plane crashes that happened in the Yukon Kuskokwim Delta in 2014 and 2013. Both crashes, according to the reports involved pilot errors.
The National Transportation Safety Board released a probable cause report this week on the November 2013 crash near the village of St. Mary’s that killed four people.
The report says the crash was likely due to mistakes by the pilot and by the Federal Aviation Administration’s failure to hold Hageland Aviation accountable for correcting deficiencies. Hageland was operating under RAVN air at the time.
The NTSB concludes the pilot in that flight used visual flight rules for his approach in conditions that called for an instrument approach. The report says skies were overcast and the cloud ceiling reached only 300 ft. at the time of the accident.
The NTSB also released its probable cause report for an April 2014 training flight that killed two Hageland pilots 42-year-old Derrick Cedars of Bethel and 46-year-old Greggory McGee of Anchorage in a crash near Kwethluk.
The board concludes the pilots were in training at the time and were attempting to recover from a stimulated in-flight emergency. The report says one of the pilots failed to gain control of the airplane and crashed.
Charles Enoch is a reporter at KYUK in Bethel.
