There was an interesting headline in the Bristol Bay Times paper of Dec. 24, about the National Transportation Safety Board release of preliminary findings on the Penair accident at Dutch Harbor in October last year.
The plane was actually operated by the Ravn group, which had taken over the Penair name through a bankruptcy. The article quoted a specific pilot experience level required by my original Penair, which those pilots did not meet.
There was a Ravn statement by an unnamed Vice President of Flight Operations, who was quoted, “the requirement was not consistent with how other commercial air carriers operate in the Lower 48, and was not necessary because it’s not done elsewhere.”
Well, the Dutch Harbor runway is only 4,000 feet long, at the very base of a 3,000-foot mountain, and all the other carriers have runways of 5,000-8,000 feet.
Further, the Saab 2000 was certificated by the manufacturer, which stipulated that the maximum downwind component allowed was 15 knots, and the records show the recorded winds that day were in the 20-knot range, straight up and down the runway. But the pilots for some reason chose to try landing twice straight downwind.
Orin Seybert
Anchorage
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