The pilot of an Airbus AS350 was halfway through the sixth of seven planned round trips between Skagway, Alaska, U.S., and a remote dog camp on the Denver Glacier when he told the camp manager that deteriorating weather might halt the flights.
“But don’t give up on me yet,” the pilot added in a statement that the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) described as “consistent with self-induced pressure to complete the day’s series of flights” on May 6, 2016.
The pilot then took off to complete the sixth round trip, likely flying under visual flight rules into an area of instrument meteorological conditions (IMC), losing visual references and, at about 1900 local time, crashing the AS350 into a snow-covered mountain 4 mi (6 km) southeast of Skagway. The crash killed the pilot and caused substantial damage to the helicopter, the report said.
The pilot’s decision to continue the flight into IMC — which resulted in his loss of visual reference and in the …
