Mountains

While flying at low altitude over mountainous terrain, the pilot entered a canyon and was approaching a mountain pass when he elected to gain height. Unable to outclimb the rising terrain, the single engine airplane struck trees and crashed in a wooded area located near Stevens Pass, in the Cascade Mountain Range. The wreckage was found few hours later and all seven occupants were killed.

On approach to Keng Tung Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions and failed to realize his altitude was insufficient when the airplane struck the slope of Mt Loi Hsam Hsao located few km from the airport. The wreckage was found three days later and all 25 occupants were killed.

Flight 302 departed Iliamna at 1419LT with 11 passengers and 2 crew members on board. It was cleared to Anchorage on an instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan via the low frequency airways--Red Airway 99 (Red 99) to the Kakon Intersection, and then Green Airway 8 (Green 8) to Anchorage. The flight was to maintain 7,000 ft. At 1425:20, the flight crew of Flight 302 established radio contact with Anchorage Air Route Traffic Control Center's (Anchorage Center) D2 nonradar sector controller. They reported that the flight was level at 7,000 ft and that they estimated arrival at Kakon Intersection at 1434. At 1428:35, Anchorage Center requested the flight's estimate for its arrival at Homer, Alaska. The flight crew responded that they estimated to be over Homer at 1515. The flight crew of Flight 302 did not make radio contact when they were over Kakon Intersection; however, at 1439:40 they requested of Anchorage Center, "302, we would like to file Green 8 and intercept the 192° bearing from Wildwood." Fifteen seconds later, Anchorage Center cleared the flight to proceed along the new route of flight and to remain at 7,000 ft. At 1440:50, the flight crew of Flight 302 advised, "302, we--we'll estimate Clams at 15 past the hour." Anchorage Center acknowledged the advisory. This was the last known radio transmission from Flight 302. At 1452:08, three abrupt, audible sounds were recorded on the Anchorage Center tape of incoming air-to-ground communications with Flight 302. These sounds were similar to those produced by a carrier frequency that was heard during the activation of Flight 302's radio transmitter during earlier radio communications with the Center. After several unsuccessful attempts to contact Flight 302 by several air traffic, control facilities between Iliamna and Anchorage and after the flight could not be detected on radar in the areas where radar coverage was available, Anchorage Center initiated the required actions to alert and notify appropriate authorities of a possible aircraft accident. U.S. Air Force search and rescue aircraft located the wreckage site at 1643 on September 7, 1977. The aircraft had struck a glacier face on the southwest side of Mt Iliamna at the 7,000 ft elevation. There were no survivors. Because of the rapidly changing environmental conditions on the glacier face of Mt Iliamna, recovery of bodies and wreckage was not possible.

In the morning, the crew completed two geophysical missions on behalf of the Severo-Yeniseysk expedition. In the afternoon, four passengers were illegally embarked for a fishing party on the Kotui River. In the evening, while flying back to Chirinda, the airplane suddenly lost height, struck tree tops and crashed in flames in a wooded area located on the slope of a mountain (480 meters), about 6 km southwest of Chirinda. The burned wreckage was found 132 meters below the summit and all seven occupants were killed.

The crew was returning to Antofagasta Airport following a maritime patrol exercice. While descending at dusk, the seaplane struck the slope of Mt Moreno located about 12 km west of the airport. The aircraft was destroyed upon impact and all six occupants were killed.
Crew:
Lt Patricio de Andraca, pilot,
Lt Patricio Yánez, copilot,
Lt Raúl Castillo, navigator,
Osvaldo Alvarado, flight engineer,
Hernán González, radio operator,
Cpt José Gallardo, mechanic.

While descending to Cuenca-Mariscal Lamar Airport in poor weather conditions, the four engine airplane struck the slope of a mountain located in the Cajas Mountain Range, about 40 km north of the intended destination. The wreckage was found few hours later and all 33 occupants were killed. The accident occurred in IMC conditions while the crew was approaching Cuenca Airport under VFR mode.

En route, the crew encountered below-minima weather conditions when the single engine aircraft hit the slope of a hill located near Omolon. There were no casualties but the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

After departure from Mariinskoye Airport bound for Khabarovsk, while cruising at an altitude of 1,350 meters, weather conditions worsened. The crew reduced his altitude to 750 meters and decided to modify his route bound for Troitskoye. While cruising in clouds, the airplane crashed on the slope of a mountain located 22 km southeast of Selikhino. As the aircraft failed to arrive at destination, SAR operations were initiated and the burnt wreckage was found a day later at an altitude of 630 meters. A boy aged 13 was injured while 10 other occupants were killed.

While approaching Wrangell on a pleasure flight from Ketchikan, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions. At an altitude of 3,000 feet, the twin engine airplane struck a mountain and crashed. The wreckage was found few hours later and all six occupants were killed.

The twin engine airplane departed San Carlos de Bariloche Airport at 1534LT on a flight to Río Gallegos with intermediate stops in El Bolsón and Comodoro Rivadavia. It was carrying a crew of four and two passengers, Mr. Ulderico Carnaghi, Governor of the Santa Cruz Province and his wife who just attended the 7th Snow Festival in san Carlos de Bariloche and were flying back to Patagonia. While descending to El Bolsón Airport, the crew encountered poor weather conditions when the airplane struck the slope of Mt Paleta located 18 km north of El Bolsón. The wreckage was found four days later at an altitude of 1,995 meters. The aircraft was destroyed and all six occupants were killed.
Crew:
Juan Carlos García, pilot,
Jorge Manuel Alvarez, copilot,
José Medina, mechanic,
Oscar M. Lazo, steward.
Passengers:
Mr. & Mrs. Ulderico Carnaghi.