Ameriflight
Encyclopedia
Ameriflight LLC
is an American
cargo airline
with its headquarters in Hangar 1 on the grounds of Bob Hope Airport
in Burbank, California
. It is the largest United States FAA Part 135
cargo carrier, operating scheduled and contract cargo services to destinations in 30 US states, Canada
, Mexico
, and the Caribbean
. Ameriflight serves major financial institutions, freight forwarders, laboratories and overnight couriers in the USA and provides feeder services for overnight express carriers nationwide and internationally. Ameriflight has about 600 employees.
division of Wings Express (which was based at Van Nuys Airport
) was purchased, and the outstanding shares of Sports Air Travel were acquired in mid-1997. In March 2007, when Canadian company Garda Security bought ATIS, Ameriflight was sold to a group of investors including the company's president, Gary Richards.
The majority of Ameriflight's operations consists of air feeder service for major package express integrators such as UPS
, FedEx
, and DHL
. On schedules set by the customers, cargo is received in the early morning from large jet freighters at hub airports
and distributed by Ameriflight airplanes to smaller communities whose traffic (or airports) would not support the big airplanes. In the evening, the Ameriflight aircraft fly back to the hubs, in order to feed them with cargo from the smaller communities, which is carried onwards to the integrators' distribution centers for sorting and redistribution to the ultimate destinations.
Although demand is decreasing as use of digital imaging and electronic data transfer increases, Ameriflight also transports high priority intercity financial documents. Pharmaceuticals, film for development, medical laboratory samples, and other miscellaneous cargo are also carried.
Ameriflight is one of the few Part 135
cargo carriers in the U.S. with a special Department of Transportation
permit to carry high Transport Index radioactive cargo, an important element in the company's time-critical radioactive medical
raw materials business which transports radioactive "generator" materials between points of manufacture and cities where it is used to produce materials used in diagnostics and cancer therapy.
In addition to scheduled flying (with contract schedules set by customers) all Ameriflight bases can respond to unscheduled on-demand cargo flights to destinations in Alaska, Canada, throughout the conterminous U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, and into South America. A single King Air 200
is used for on-demand passenger charter flights.
, with large operations centers at the following bases:
United States
Puerto Rico
In previous times, the airline operated the following aircraft types: Cessna 402
, Cessna 208 Caravan, Dassault Falcon 20
, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
, Learjet 35 (passenger use), Mitsubishi MU-2
, Piper PA-32R, Piper PA-32, Piper Cherokee
, Piper PA-23 and Piper PA-42 Cheyenne.
Limited liability company
A limited liability company is a flexible form of enterprise that blends elements of partnership and corporate structures. It is a legal form of company that provides limited liability to its owners in the vast majority of United States jurisdictions...
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
cargo airline
Cargo airline
Cargo airlines are airlines dedicated to the transport of cargo. Some cargo airlines are divisions or subsidiaries of larger passenger airlines.-Logistics:...
with its headquarters in Hangar 1 on the grounds of Bob Hope Airport
Bob Hope Airport
Bob Hope Airport is a public airport located 3 miles northwest of the central business district of Burbank, a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
in Burbank, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. It is the largest United States FAA Part 135
Federal Aviation Regulations
The Federal Aviation Regulations, or FARs, are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs are part of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations...
cargo carrier, operating scheduled and contract cargo services to destinations in 30 US states, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, and the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
. Ameriflight serves major financial institutions, freight forwarders, laboratories and overnight couriers in the USA and provides feeder services for overnight express carriers nationwide and internationally. Ameriflight has about 600 employees.
History
Ameriflight was established in 1968 as California Air Charter. It merged in 1971 with United Couriers (UCI), a wholly owned subsidiary of ATI Systems International (ATIS). In April 1993 the fixed-wingFixed-wing aircraft
A fixed-wing aircraft is an aircraft capable of flight using wings that generate lift due to the vehicle's forward airspeed. Fixed-wing aircraft are distinct from rotary-wing aircraft in which wings rotate about a fixed mast and ornithopters in which lift is generated by flapping wings.A powered...
division of Wings Express (which was based at Van Nuys Airport
Van Nuys Airport
Van Nuys Airport is a public airport located in Van Nuys in the San Fernando Valley section of the city limits of Los Angeles, California, United States. No major commercial airlines fly into this airport; it is used by private, chartered, and small commercial aircraft...
) was purchased, and the outstanding shares of Sports Air Travel were acquired in mid-1997. In March 2007, when Canadian company Garda Security bought ATIS, Ameriflight was sold to a group of investors including the company's president, Gary Richards.
Flight services
United Parcel Service
United Parcel Service, Inc. , typically referred to by the acronym UPS, is a package delivery company. Headquartered in Sandy Springs, Georgia, United States, UPS delivers more than 15 million packages a day to 6.1 million customers in more than 220 countries and territories around the...
, FedEx
FedEx
FedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States with headquarters in Memphis, Tennessee...
, and DHL
DHL
DHL Express is a division of the German logistics company Deutsche Post providing international express mail services. DHL is a world market leader in sea and air mail....
. On schedules set by the customers, cargo is received in the early morning from large jet freighters at hub airports
Airline hub
An airline hub is an airport that an airline uses as a transfer point to get passengers to their intended destination. It is part of a hub and spoke model, where travelers moving between airports not served by direct flights change planes en route to their destinations...
and distributed by Ameriflight airplanes to smaller communities whose traffic (or airports) would not support the big airplanes. In the evening, the Ameriflight aircraft fly back to the hubs, in order to feed them with cargo from the smaller communities, which is carried onwards to the integrators' distribution centers for sorting and redistribution to the ultimate destinations.
Although demand is decreasing as use of digital imaging and electronic data transfer increases, Ameriflight also transports high priority intercity financial documents. Pharmaceuticals, film for development, medical laboratory samples, and other miscellaneous cargo are also carried.
Ameriflight is one of the few Part 135
Federal Aviation Regulations
The Federal Aviation Regulations, or FARs, are rules prescribed by the Federal Aviation Administration governing all aviation activities in the United States. The FARs are part of Title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations...
cargo carriers in the U.S. with a special Department of Transportation
United States Department of Transportation
The United States Department of Transportation is a federal Cabinet department of the United States government concerned with transportation. It was established by an act of Congress on October 15, 1966, and began operation on April 1, 1967...
permit to carry high Transport Index radioactive cargo, an important element in the company's time-critical radioactive medical
Nuclear medicine
In nuclear medicine procedures, elemental radionuclides are combined with other elements to form chemical compounds, or else combined with existing pharmaceutical compounds, to form radiopharmaceuticals. These radiopharmaceuticals, once administered to the patient, can localize to specific organs...
raw materials business which transports radioactive "generator" materials between points of manufacture and cities where it is used to produce materials used in diagnostics and cancer therapy.
In addition to scheduled flying (with contract schedules set by customers) all Ameriflight bases can respond to unscheduled on-demand cargo flights to destinations in Alaska, Canada, throughout the conterminous U.S., Mexico, the Caribbean, and into South America. A single King Air 200
Beechcraft Super King Air
The Beechcraft Super King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation . The King Air line comprises a number of model series that fall into two families: the Model 90 series, Model 100 series , Model 200 series and Model 300 series...
is used for on-demand passenger charter flights.
Main bases and hubs
As of mid-2009, Ameriflight's headquarters is at Burbank's Bob Hope AirportBob Hope Airport
Bob Hope Airport is a public airport located 3 miles northwest of the central business district of Burbank, a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
, with large operations centers at the following bases:
United States
- ArizonaArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
: PhoenixPhoenix, ArizonaPhoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
(Sky Harbor International Airport) - CaliforniaCaliforniaCalifornia is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
: OaklandOakland, CaliforniaOakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
(Oakland International AirportOakland International AirportOakland International Airport , also known as Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, is a public airport located south of the central business district of Oakland, a city in Alameda County, California, United States...
) and OntarioOntario, CaliforniaOntario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California, United States, 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. Located in the western part of the Inland Empire region, it lies just east of the Los Angeles county line and is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area...
(Ontario International AirportOntario International AirportLA/Ontario International Airport , formerly Ontario International Airport, is a public airport located east of the central business district of Ontario, a city in San Bernardino County, California, USA. This airport is owned and operated by the Los Angeles World Airports , an agency of the city...
) - FloridaFloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
: Miami (Miami International AirportMiami International AirportMiami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the South Florida area...
) - MontanaMontanaMontana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
: BillingsBillings, MontanaBillings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...
(Billings Logan International AirportBillings Logan International Airport-Top Destinations:-External links:* , official site...
) (maintenance only) - NebraskaNebraskaNebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
: OmahaOmaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
(Eppley AirfieldEppley AirfieldEppley Airfield is a medium hub primary airport located three miles northeast of the central business district of Omaha, a city in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. It is the largest airport in the state of Nebraska...
) - New York: BuffaloBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
(Buffalo Niagara International AirportBuffalo Niagara International AirportBuffalo Niagara International Airport is an airport located in Cheektowaga CDP, Town of Cheektowaga, in Erie County, New York, USA. It is named after the Buffalo – Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The airport serves Buffalo, New York as well as Southern Ontario, Canada...
) - OhioOhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
/ KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
: Cincinnati (Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International AirportCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International AirportCincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport , sometimes called the Greater Cincinnati Airport is located in Hebron, unincorporated Boone County, Kentucky, United States and serves the Greater Cincinnati metropolitan area. Despite being located in Boone County, the airport operations are...
) and (only for maintenance) LouisvilleLouisville, KentuckyLouisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
(Louisville International Airport) - OregonOregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
: PortlandPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
(Portland International AirportPortland International AirportPortland International Airport is a joint civil-military airport and the largest airport in the U.S. state of Oregon, accounting for 90% of passenger travel and more than 95% of air cargo of the state. It is located within Portland's city limits just south of the Columbia River in Multnomah...
) - TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
: Dallas (Dallas-Fort Worth International AirportDallas-Fort Worth International AirportDallas/Fort Worth International Airport is located between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas, and is the busiest airport in the U.S. state of Texas...
) - UtahUtahUtah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
: Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City International AirportSalt Lake City International AirportSalt Lake City International Airport is a major public airport in Utah. A joint civil-military facility, it is located in western Salt Lake City, approximately four miles from the central business district...
) - Washington: Seattle (Boeing FieldBoeing FieldBoeing Field, officially King County International Airport , is a two-runway airport owned and run by King County, Washington, USA. In promotional literature, the airport is frequently referred to as KCIA, but this is not the airport identifier. The airport has some passenger service, but is mostly...
)
Puerto Rico
- AguadillaAguadilla, Puerto RicoAguadilla , founded in 1775 by Luis de Córdova, is a city located in the northwestern tip of Puerto Rico bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, north of Aguada, and Moca and west of Isabela. Aguadilla is spread over 15 wards and Aguadilla Pueblo...
(Rafael Hernández AirportRafael Hernández AirportRafael Hernández Airport is an airport located in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. It is named after the Puerto Rican composer Rafael Hernández Marín. The airport is the second international airport in Puerto Rico in the region of Porta del Sol, Puerto Rico's west coast.Rafael Hernandez Airport mainly...
) - San JuanSan Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
(Luis Muñoz Marín International AirportLuis Muñoz Marín International AirportLuis Muñoz Marín International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located in Carolina, Puerto Rico, three miles southeast of San Juan. Over 4 million passengers board a plane at the airport per year according to FAA reports . It is owned and managed by the Puerto Rico Ports...
)
Fleet
As of September 2011, the Ameriflight fleet consists of the following aircraft:| Aircraft | In Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Beechcraft 1900 Beechcraft 1900 The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop airplane manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company . It was designed, and is primarily used, as a regional airliner... |
||
| Beechcraft King Air Beechcraft King Air The Beechcraft King Air family is part of a line of twin-turboprop aircraft produced by the Beech Aircraft Corporation... |
only passenger aircraft in fleet | |
| Beechcraft Model 99 Beechcraft Model 99 |-See also:-External links:*... |
||
| Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia -Accidents:*Brazilian Air Force on July 8, 1988 an Embraer EMB 120RT Brasília registration FAB-2001 crashed during and engine-out landing at São José dos Campos. Five of the 9 occupants died.... |
modified to ER (extended range) variant | |
| Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner The Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner or the Fairchild Aerospace Metro is a 19-seat, pressurised, twin turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas, United States.... |
||
| Piper PA-31 Navajo Piper PA-31 Navajo The Piper PA-31 Navajo is a family of cabin-class, twin-engine aircraft designed and built by Piper Aircraft for the general aviation market, most using Lycoming engines. It was also licence-built in a number of Latin American countries. Targeted at small-scale cargo and feeder liner operations and... |
32 are of the Chieftain variant | |
| Total | 170 |
In previous times, the airline operated the following aircraft types: Cessna 402
Cessna 402
The Cessna 401 and 402 are series of 6 to 10 place, light twin, piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner...
, Cessna 208 Caravan, Dassault Falcon 20
Dassault Falcon 20
The Dassault Falcon 20 is a French business jet and was the first of a family of business jets built by Dassault Aviation.-Design and development:...
, de Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter
The DHC-6 Twin Otter is a Canadian 19-passenger STOL utility aircraft developed by de Havilland Canada and currently produced by Viking Air. The aircraft's fixed tricycle undercarriage, STOL abilities and high rate of climb have made it a successful cargo, regional passenger airliner and MEDEVAC...
, Learjet 35 (passenger use), Mitsubishi MU-2
Mitsubishi MU-2
The Mitsubishi MU-2 is one of postwar Japan's most successful aircraft. It is a high-wing, twin-engine turboprop, and has a pressurized cabin.-Design and development:...
, Piper PA-32R, Piper PA-32, Piper Cherokee
Piper Cherokee
The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of light aircraft designed for flight training, air taxi, and personal use. It is built by Piper Aircraft....
, Piper PA-23 and Piper PA-42 Cheyenne.
Accidents and incidents
- On November 16, 1994 at 02:40 local time, the pilot of an Ameriflight Beechcraft Model 99Beechcraft Model 99|-See also:-External links:*...
(registeredAircraft registrationAn aircraft registration is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies a civil aircraft, in similar fashion to a licence plate on an automobile...
N63995) on a cargo flight from Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena AirportBob Hope AirportBob Hope Airport is a public airport located 3 miles northwest of the central business district of Burbank, a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States...
to Oakland International AirportOakland International AirportOakland International Airport , also known as Metropolitan Oakland International Airport, is a public airport located south of the central business district of Oakland, a city in Alameda County, California, United States...
lost control of the aircraft near AvenalAvenal, CaliforniaAvenal is a city in Kings County, California, United States. Avenal is located southwest of Hanford, at an elevation of 807 feet . It is part of the Hanford–Corcoran Metropolitan Statistical Area , which encompasses all of Kings County. In area, it is the largest city in Kings County...
and was killed in the subsequent crash, the reason for which could not be determined. - On August 13, 1997 Flight 262 from PortlandPortland, OregonPortland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
to Seattle, which was operated using a Beechcraft 1900Beechcraft 1900The Beechcraft 1900 is a 19-passenger, pressurized twin-engine turboprop airplane manufactured by the Beechcraft Division of the Raytheon Company . It was designed, and is primarily used, as a regional airliner...
(registered N3172A) was damaged in a crash landing at Seattle–Tacoma International Airport and destroyed in a fire that had erupted from spilled fuel. Investigation into the accident determined that the airpane had been overloaded and that the pilot had been misinformed by staff members of Ameriflight about the center of gravityCenter of gravity of an aircraftThe center-of-gravity is the point at which an aircraft would balance if it were possible to suspend it at that point. It is the mass center of the aircraft, or the theoretical point at which the entire weight of the aircraft is assumed to be concentrated. Its distance from the reference datum is...
, which led to an unexpected flying behavior upon landing and a resulting stall situation. - On February 12, 1999 at around 10:30 local time, Beechcraft C99 (registered N205RA) crashed into a canyon of the White MountainsWhite Mountains (California)The White Mountains of California are a triangular fault block mountain range facing the Sierra Nevada across the upper Owens Valley. They extend for approximately as a greatly elevated plateau about wide on the south, narrowing to a point at the north, with elevations generally increasing...
, while enroute a positioning flight from Tonopah AirportTonopah AirportTonopah Airport is a county-owned public-use airport located seven nautical miles east of the central business district of Tonopah, in Nye County, Nevada, United States.- Facilities and aircraft :...
to Bishop AirportEastern Sierra Regional AirportEastern Sierra Regional Airport is a public-use airport located two nautical miles east of the central business district of Bishop, in Inyo County, California, United States...
. The wreckage could only be recovered two days later. According to relatives and witnesses, the pilot (who was killed in the crash) had been trying to take aerial pictures of the local scenery when he lost control of the aircraft. - On November 29, 2003 at 08:01 local time, Flight 1966 from Boeing FieldBoeing FieldBoeing Field, officially King County International Airport , is a two-runway airport owned and run by King County, Washington, USA. In promotional literature, the airport is frequently referred to as KCIA, but this is not the airport identifier. The airport has some passenger service, but is mostly...
crashed into trees in bad visibility conditions whilst approaching its destination Felts Field, by which the pilot was killed. The aircraft involved, a Swearingen MerlinSwearingen MerlinThe Swearingen Merlin or the Fairchild Aerospace Merlin is a pressurised, twin turboprop business aircraft first produced by Swearingen Aircraft, and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas.-Design and development:...
registered N439AF, had only one working ILSInstrument Landing SystemAn instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
receiver at the time of the accident, which delivered unreliable data, so that the pilot had been descending too rapidly. - On March 18, 2006, Flight 2591, a Beechcraft Model 99 (registered N54RP) crashed during a flight from HelenaHelena, MontanaHelena is the capital city of the U.S. state of Montana and the county seat of Lewis and Clark County. The 2010 census put the population at 28,180. The local daily newspaper is the Independent Record. The Helena Brewers minor league baseball and Helena Bighorns minor league hockey team call the...
to ButteButte, MontanaButte is a city in Montana and the county seat of Silver Bow County, United States. In 1977, the city and county governments consolidated to form the sole entity of Butte-Silver Bow. As of the 2010 census, Butte's population was 34,200...
in Montana about 8.1 miles South West of its destination, killing the two pilots on board. The plane impacted trees and mountainous terrain, where the wreckage could only be located on March 20. The cause of the crash was determined to be the pilot's failure to follow the proper instrument approach procedure. - On December 17, 2007, the Beechcraft Model 99 (registered N206AV) that was operating as Flight 4844 landed short of the runway at Vernal Regional Airport in low visibility conditions, during which the aircraft was considerably damaged.
- On September 22, 2009, an Ameriflight Fairchild Merlin IV-C sustained substantial damage to its nose and forward pressure bulkhead at Eppley AirfieldEppley AirfieldEppley Airfield is a medium hub primary airport located three miles northeast of the central business district of Omaha, a city in Douglas County, Nebraska, United States. It is the largest airport in the state of Nebraska...
, when another company's Cessna 402Cessna 402The Cessna 401 and 402 are series of 6 to 10 place, light twin, piston engine aircraft. This line was manufactured by Cessna from 1966 to 1985 under the name Utiliner and Businessliner...
collided with the parked plane. - On November 4, 2009 at 07:50 local time, a Beechcraft Model 99 (registered N330AV) suffered a bird strikeBird strikeA bird strike—sometimes called birdstrike, avian ingestion , bird hit, or BASH —is a collision between an airborne animal and a man-made vehicle, especially aircraft...
when approaching Show Low Regional AirportShow Low Regional AirportShow Low Regional Airport is a city-owned public-use airport located two nautical miles east of the central business district of the City of Show Low, in Navajo County, Arizona, United States. It is mostly used for general aviation but is also served by one commercial airline...
following a cargo flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International AirportPhoenix Sky Harbor International AirportPhoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport located southeast of the central business district of the city of Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States...
. A Western GrebeWestern GrebeThe Western Grebe, , is a species in the grebe family of water birds. Folk names include "dabchick", "swan grebe" and "swan-necked grebe"....
impacted and penetrated the left pilot side of the flight deck windscreen, striking and injuring the single pilot. The impact left an 11 inch by 8 inch hole in the windscreen. The pilot was able to continue the approach and land without further incident. - On January 6, 2010 at 07:41 local time, a Beechcraft Model 99 (registered N206AV) was damaged in a hard landing at Kearney Regional Airport following a cargo flight from OmahaOmaha, NebraskaOmaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. The aircraft had behaved unexpectedly because of icingAtmospheric icingAtmospheric icing occurs when water droplets in the atmosphere freeze on objects they contact. This can be extremely dangerous to aircraft, as the built-up ice changes the aerodynamics of the flight surfaces, which can increase the risk of a subsequent stalling of the airfoil...
that had built up on the wings. - On March 10, 2011, Flight 1951, a Fairchild Swearingen MetrolinerFairchild Swearingen MetrolinerThe Fairchild Swearingen Metroliner or the Fairchild Aerospace Metro is a 19-seat, pressurised, twin turboprop airliner first produced by Swearingen Aircraft and later by Fairchild at a plant in San Antonio, Texas, United States....
, slid off the runway and onto the grass at Boeing FieldBoeing FieldBoeing Field, officially King County International Airport , is a two-runway airport owned and run by King County, Washington, USA. In promotional literature, the airport is frequently referred to as KCIA, but this is not the airport identifier. The airport has some passenger service, but is mostly...
in Seattle when completing a flight from Nez Perce County Airport. Preliminary reports indicated a landing gear problem, but there were also difficult wind shearWind shearWind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
conditions at the time of the accident. The single pilot of the airplane was uninjured.