Zone

Crash of a Beechcraft C-12F Huron on Mt Chilkat: 8 killed

Date & Time: Nov 12, 1992 at 0910 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
85-1261
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Elmendorf – Juneau
MSN:
BP-52
YOM:
1985
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
6
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The crew started the descent to Juneau Airport in poor weather conditions. At an altitude of 2,600 feet, while cruising in clouds, the twin engine aircraft struck the slope of a mountain located in the Chilkat Mountain Range, about 38 miles northwest of Juneau Airport. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all eight occupants were killed among them General Thomas C. Carroll, second Chief of Staff of the USAF in Alaska.
Crew:
Col Thomas Clark, pilot,
Cwo John Pospisil, copilot.
Passengers:
Sfc Richard E. Brink,
Gen Thomas C. Carroll,
Mg Kenneth W. Himsel,
Sgm Llewellyn A. Kahklen,
Sgt Michael J. Schmidt,
Col Wilfred E. Wood.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain after the crew followed a wrong approach track for unknown reasons. At the time of the accident, the visibility was poor due to heavy rain falls and the crew informed ground about his position that was not correct according to ATC radar.