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Alaska plane that crashed and left 10 dead was more than 1,000 pounds over the weight limit, NTSB finds

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The Bering Air flight that recently crashed in sea ice off Alaska, killing 10, was more than 1,000 pounds "over the maximum takeoff gross weight for flight into known or forecast icing conditions," according to a new report by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). (www.foxnews.com) More...

Torsten Hoff
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jmonroe
jmonroe 2
A question for you Caravan experts. Is 1,000 pound over weight a big deal for that airplane on a clear cool day at sea level?
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k9gsd1
Robin Rebhan 2
1,000 Lbs over weight just a slight shift in weight/balance ad a little icing. Deicer is made to get through icing level not fly right in it.
Tough call and it could be another problem was "the" contributing problem.
FAA sure has their work cut out for them.
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fuelguy
mark hyderman 2
On the “booted” Caravan, there was additional training for FIKI. One consideration was to use the manual fuel control to over ride the FCU if needed to maintain 118 kias
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ForbesMercy
Forbes Mercy 4
You MEANT to say plane in Alaska, NOT Alaska plane which infers it's Alaska Airlines when it's not! Journalists are supposed to know better not to make these mistakes.
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TxFlier
TxFlier 7
You meant to say "implies," not "infers."
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TimDyck
Tim Dyck 13
1000lbs overweight. I hate to say it but that is not unusual in the north and the pilots who fly there know how much overweight they can be and still take off.
What the article didn’t mention is how there was no distress call, the pilot was talking to the ATC minutes before the accident and gave no indication of trouble as he was waiting for the runway to be cleared at Nome. The article fixates on weight and ice but completely ignores that the pilot was experienced in flying in that aria, flew overweight regularly and those Cessnas are designed to self deice.
A terrible article about a tragic accident. I will wait for the investigation to find out what really happened.
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craiglgood
Craig Good 7
That's called "normalization of deviance", and it kills.
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xmitr
Don Whyte 3
aria?
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genojoy
Gene Joy 3
opera buff :-)
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TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 4
Overloading is something you can get away with until you can't.

The extra weight may not have been a problem with clean lifting and control surfaces, but once those are compromised with ice buildup, the margin for error decreases.
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SteveTarr
Steve Tarr 5
Agreed, wait for the real report. This was very serious and early media reports just stir up more speculation.
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chris13
Chris Bryant 10
Just because you CAN do a thing doesn't mean you SHOULD.
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TimDyck
Tim Dyck 5
I never said they should, I just pointed out that they do this all the time.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 4
Apparently, at least 1 of the pilots did not know how much he could overload his plane! Just because they do it does not make it right.... If you are within the correct Balance, you still need to be in the correct Range Area.. I think that the Moment was more of an issue than the Weight was. If you are out on either, then you are lot legal!
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gsmith4151
harold smith 6
Designed to self deice? It’s been many years since I flew the caravan. Don’t remember what the icing weight restriction is. But, trust me. They DO NOT SELF DEICE. the pilot regularly flew overweight? And it finally got him. Sorry for your misunderstanding of regulations, but they are to protect innocent passengers and stupid pilots from harm. But you have to follow the rules to get protection from the rules. Tell your story to the families of the dead. Think they will make this pilot their hero?
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TimDyck
Tim Dyck 3
I never said overweight was right just that it is common practice in the north.
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linbb
linbb 0
I like you have never heard of an icing weight restriction. Noticed that there was another deal looked up that model and it had a higher gross weight than was quoted. Was flying at night once in a bit of weather decided to check the wing for ice.........yup there was some. Like I pointe out above the two lines crossed I think when he reduced speed. Had he not then when he was slowing for landing it would have got him.
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sparkie624
sparkie624 2
You need to reference AC 91-74B and AC 25-25A
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k9gsd1
Robin Rebhan 5
1,ooo Lbs over weight would make any icing really bad. Amazing to get off the ground. One ever so slight a shift in cargo or passenger weight and ......
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BSJ
Brian Johnson 3
It took "days" to find the wreckage becauseof the weather. No telling when that ice was deposited.
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linbb
linbb -5
And you dont understand icing on an aircraft either its just like a car icing up no different in how it forms due to FORWARD motion of the aircraft.
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TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 5
I am sure that based on where the ice buildup was they can tell whether it occurred in-flight or on the ground. If it was on the ground then it would cover all surfaces fairly evenly.

Assuming that the ice buildup that just happens to face forward on the beacon is post-accident seems a bit of a stretch.

They will also look at the ice on the ground. What's on the aircraft and on the ground would match if it is post-accident.
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TimDyck
Tim Dyck 4
Winter Storms in the Nome aria often result in total white outs due to the combination of snow and fog off the ocean. It’s really a beautiful place to visit when the weather is nice.
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linbb
linbb -3
That was not the problem icing build up was aircraft was fine at higher speed, slowing down it was not really simple the two lines crossed and resulted in loss of control.
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TimDyck
Tim Dyck 6
I was answering Brian as to why it would take days to find the wreckage. There are times visibility is measured in feet over the bay while it’s clear in town. I flew into Nome once in the 80s when I couldn’t see the end of the wing yet once we cleared the bay we could see clearly for at least a mile as the plane was landing. A friend was crossing the bay during the Iditarod and her dogs stopped, she walked up to the lead dog and saw open water just a few yards in front that she hadn’t seen from the sleigh. Finding a plane out there before the weather clears is near impossible and dangerous. Kudos to the Coast Guard personnel who went out in the storm to try to find it.
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TorstenHoff
Torsten Hoff 9
The forward-facing side of the beacon on the vertical stabilizer seems to have about two inches of ice buildup on it. With the de-icing system keeping the leading edges of the wings and windshield clear, the pilot may not have been aware of just how bad the situation was.
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