Beech En Route From Skagway (AK) To Yakutat

"It pulled into too steep of a turn, lost lift, and went into a nose dive." That word from a retired Delta Airlines pilot who witnessed the end of a Beechcraft Bonanza near Skagway (AK), earlier this month. Three California men died in the wreckage. Dead are:

• Don Johnson 67, Grass Valley (CA)
• James Morton Jr., 70, Grass Valley (CA)
• Lawrence Solin, 45, Sacramento (CA)

The three men were reportedly on a salmon fishing trip at the time of the crash. The NTSB's preliminary report offers few details. The weather was said to be CAVU. As the V-tailed Bonanza departed the runway, it rotated into a 24-kt headwind. That's about it, so far.

But witnesses have more details. "I heard it come over my head through the trees, then crash," Skagway Search and Rescue member Jason Jones said. He was just 100 yards from the impact area. As soon as the wreckage stopped moving, he was on the scene, followed just two minutes later by the Skagway Fire Departement. Just as he got there, Jones says the wreckage became engulfed in flames.

Quoted on TheUnion.com, a newspaper website in Nevada County (CA), Fire Chief Martin Beckner said, "The response time was great, especially for a volunteer fire department. They were able to stop the threat of wildfire and extinguish the wreckage."

"We're a long way off from determining the cause," NTSB Investigator Scott Erickson said by phone from Anchorage. "The continuing part will be to look at pilot history and maintenance records of the aircraft."

Erikson said the Bonanza may have made a premature turn to the left, after taking off on a northerly departure from Skagway's airport. "It's not a standard departure type of maneuver, but a witness described a fairly early turn to the left," Erickson said.

One other pilot who witnessed the Bonanza's demise said, "You have to get enough altitude before you turn around (and head south), and if you're having trouble, you can turn right up the Denver Valley and turn around up there," pilot Eric Timblin told reporters. "I noticed him full throttle and pitched heavily (the nose was pointing up) as he made a left-hand turn," he said. "He pitched up even more as he made the turn, which dropped his airspeed."

"The left wing rolled 180 degrees, turning the plane upside down. The weight of the nose then caused it to drop straight down about 300 feet to the ground," Timblin said.

There have been 22 fatal crashes in Alaska so far this year. That equals the entire number of aviation incidents reported in 2002. So far this year, 44 people have been killed in air accidents in Alaska.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov