The National Transportation Safety Board is continuing to investigate what caused a Yute Commuter Service plane to catch fire and burn on the Bethel runway on Nov. 20.
NTSB Alaska Chief Clint Johnson said the agency believes it didn’t have anything to do with the contents of the plane, like cargo.
“We’re looking more at the mechanical or the technical side of the airplane itself,” he said.
Johnson and his team traveled to Bethel in early December to collect parts of the plane where the fire could have started. Those parts were then sent to Washington, D.C., for forensic analysis. Johnson said the initial testing should provide a clearer direction for the NTSB’s investigation.
A preliminary report published last week by the NTSB provides a closer look at the events leading up to the fire.
Here’s what it says happened:
Around 5:55 p.m. on Nov. 20, the Cessna 207 left Bethel headed for Kwethluk, with a pilot, five passengers and cargo onboard.
Shortly after taking off, the pilot noticed the plane’s emergency locator transmitter had turned on. He started to smell what he described as “an electrical burn smell.” A minute later, there was smoke in the cockpit.
The pilot turned the plane around and flew back to Bethel. On the return journey, he turned off the plane’s electrical switch and opened the window to clear out the smoke.
After landing in Bethel, he ordered the passengers to evacuate.
He reported heavy smoke filling the cockpit and passenger compartment. He saw a candle-like flame rising up from the floorboards just behind the pilot and co-pilot seats.
“Moments after all the passengers and pilot had exited the airplane, it was immediately engulfed in flames,” the report said.
Johnson said NTSB’s final report on the crash will be out in roughly nine months to a year.
“However, if there’s a safety or flight issue that needs to be addressed beforehand that could affect other airplanes out there, we will do an interim report to get that information out to the public,” he said.
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