Cessna 208B Caravan, Naches, Wash., Oct. 7, 2007–The Board attributed the
fatal crash to the pilot’s failure to maintain adequate airspeed to avoid a stall while maneuvering. Contributing factors were the pilot’s impaired state due to hypoxia, his inadequate pre-flight weather evaluation and his attempted flight into known adverse weather. The pilot’s inadvertent flight into IMC with turbulence at night was listed as an additional cause.
The single-engine turboprop, operated by Kapowsin Air Sports, was destroyed and the commercial pilot and nine passengers killed when the Caravan crashed into terrain during a night flight from Star, Idaho, to Shelton, Wash. The flight was carrying a group of skydivers to their home base after a weekend of
skydiving. The day of the accident, the pilot flew several jump flights and stopped early in the afternoon to prepare the aircraft for the return flight.
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