1306
N345KA operated from Ketchikan.
Photo: Helge Nyhus © September 2006 - Aird Archives
Photos: Chip Porter © 18 June 2006
Photos: Kamm © 2005
Photos: Neil Aird © 16 September 2004
N345KA ready for snow.
Photo: Robbie Shaw ©
Photo: Erik Johannesson © 21 May 2002 - Aird Archives
N345KA over the channel at Anchorage, AK.
Photo: Shawn Miller © 1999
N345KA at the Ketchum dock.
Photo: Bruce W. Gowans © 1998 - Aird Archives
N67678 getting a lift at Kenmore.
Photo: © Glen Etchells

1306

58-1984 • N67678

N345KA

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58-1984 US Army # 1864. L-20 No. 865. Command A-16. Delivered 05-Feb-1959. Built as L-20A and re-designated U-6A in 1962.

58-1984 Stored at MASDC., Davis Monthan AFB., AZ. 30-Jun-1972 to 06-Feb-1976. PCN (Product Control Number)  HS180.

Note: Purchased by Hillcrest at the Davis Monthan auction sale on 29-Jan-1976 for $27,000US. Sold as providing “a reasonable potential for normal certification”. Total time 7,887.4 hours, engine 4,905.4 hours. Comment at sale included: good condition.

N67678 Hillcrest Aircraft, Lewiston, ID. Regd 06-Feb-1976.

N67678 Chitina Air Services Inc., Cordova, AK. Regd Feb-1976.

N67678 Kenmore Air Harbor Inc., Kenmore, WA. Regd 08-Feb-1982.

N345KA Ketchum Air Service Inc., Anchorage, AK. Regd Apr-1993. On USCAR at01-Oct-1994.

Airworthiness Cert.: 03-May-1993. Category – Normal.

N345KA Ketchum Aircraft Leasing Inc., Anchorage, AK. Regd 09-Oct-1997. Canx 20-Jun-2005.

Accident: Big Lake, AK. 17-Jul-2000. On July 17, 2000, about 0845 AK daylight time, the float equipped airplane, sustained substantial damage during takeoff when it collided with a tree on Alexander Creek, about 15 miles west of Big Lake, AK, at 61 degrees, 36 minutes north latitude, 150 degrees, 40 minutes west longitude. The solo airline transport pilot was not injured. The positioning flight was being conducted under 14 CFR Part 91, by Ketchum Air Service, Inc., Anchorage, AK. The flight was returning to Lake Hood Seaplane Base, Anchorage, after dropping passengers at the company lodge on Alexander Creek. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident, and a company VFR flight plan was filed. During a telephone interview with the NTSB investigator-in-charge on July 20, the pilot stated he lost directional control of the airplane during the initial takeoff run. He indicated the airplane was just coming up on step, and he was taking off upstream, with an eight knot quartering tailwind from the left. He said the airplane swerved left, and the left wing struck a tree on the river bank. Post accident inspection of the airplane by the NTSB investigator-in-charge on July 18, revealed the first rib inboard of the landing light was crushed aft to the left wing main spar.. TSB report ANC00LA091

Total hours: 18,893 hrs at Jul-2003.

Modifications Circa 2005 include: Kenmore sea finlets, large rear cabin windows, Jasco alternator, Gross weight increase to 5,370lbs, domed passenger door windows, fire wall mounted battery, cabin access steps, Hartzell three-blade prop, lifetime wing struts, extended baggage area and  wing tip tanks,

N345KA Seawind Aviation, Ketchikan,  AK. Regd 30-Jun-2005. Canx 18-Jun-2010.

Accident: Traitor’s Cove, 25 mi. N of Ketchikan, AK 16-Aug-2007. The float-equipped airplane was departing from a remote bay 20 miles north of Ketchikan, AK, to return air taxi passengers to Ketchikan after a ground tour. The accident pilot, who reported that he had 17,000 flight hours and 7,000 hours in the make and model of the accident airplane, said that south easterly winds had begun to increase while he was waiting at the bay for the passengers to return from the tour. He said that, unlike when he had landed about 2.5 hours earlier, it was no longer “nice and calm” when the passengers returned. The pilot noticed choppy waves in parts of a nearby cove. To avoid some of the wind and waves, the pilot elected to take off toward the interior of the bay, in the direction of rising terrain. The pilot said that he had never taken off in that direction before. The pilot also said that he had intended to make a shallow, right-climbing turn toward the mouth of the bay and away from the terrain, but shortly after takeoff, he saw numerous choppy waves concentrated along his proposed departure flightpath, which he said indicated to him that strong winds were likely along that path. The pilot decided to change his plan and continue flying straight temporarily, away from the waves, and to make a left, 180-degree turn inside the bay, which was surrounded by high terrain. The pilot indicated that when the turn was initiated, the airplane was about 400 feet above the water, and he did not recall the indicated airspeed. The attempted 180-degree turn was within the airplane’s performance capabilities but placed it closer to rising terrain.  While attempting this turn, the pilot encountered a downdraft, was unable to climb above the terrain, and stalled the airplane about 60 feet above the ground. The downdraft likely made it more difficult to avoid descending into the rising terrain. A weather study by the National Transportation Safety Board confirmed that there was a gust front in the area and an abrupt wind change about the time of the accident. Pilots flying nearby also reported low-level windshear, strong winds, and turbulence. No mechanical anomalies were discovered during post accident inspections by the Safety Board. The aircraft was severely damaged and a post accident fire destroyed the airplane's main cabin and fuselage. Report number. ANC07MA083.

Total Hours: 22,409 hours at Aug 2007.

N345KA Registration was still pending to Copper River Airmotive Inc., Copper Center, AK. 28-Mar-2012 until 01-Apr-2015. Aircraft is deregistered, cancel date 28-Mar-2012.

Status unknown

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