Mary F. Silitch

Hawker Beechcraft King Air A100, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., Jan. 5, 2006–The North Country Aviation EMS King Air was substantially damaged when it veered off the slush- and snow-covered Runway 32 at Sault Ste. Marie Municipal/Sanderson Field Airport (ANJ) and hit a snowbank. The NTSB found that the crew’s inadequate in-flight decision to continue the approach to land and failure to maintain directional control and the contaminated runway caused the accident. Contributing factors were the failure to fly to the alternate destination, and the failure of airport personnel to issue a notam about the snow/slush condition.
The pilot told NTSB investigators he had received a weather briefing before taking off from Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Mich. He was especially concerned about runway conditions at ANJ, but FSS told him there were no notams on runway conditions there. No one was injured, but the airplane received substantial damage. n

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