CESSNA 208

Full Narrative

On January 19, 2024, about 1247 eastern standard time, a Cessna 208B, N1983X, was involved in an incident at Dulles, Virginia. The commercial pilot, commercial copilot, and five passengers were not injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 scheduled, commuter air carrier passenger flight.
The operator, Southern Airways Express, reported the following. Flight 246 from Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD), Dulles, Virgina to Lancaster Airport (LNS), Lancaster, Pennsylvania, departed from runway 30. During the initial climb after takeoff, about 600 ft above ground level, the flight crew noticed that the standby power light in the cockpit illuminated. Shortly thereafter, there was a sudden, shattering noise and vibrations coming from the engine area.
The pilot, who was at the controls, instructed the copilot to declare an emergency and initiate procedures to return to IAD. During the turnback, it became evident that the engine was unresponsive and the airplane was rapidly losing altitude. The pilot made the decision to land the airplane on highway 606, near the perimeter of IAD. During the landing, the airplane touched down on the paved surface of the road and collided with a steel guardrail before coming to a stop. The flight crew secured the airplane and the crew and passengers were met by first responders.
Inspectors with the Federal Aviation Administration responded to the incident site and examined the airplane. Damage was noted to the highway guardrail, propeller, right main landing gear, cargo pod, and fairing. The airplane was towed to a nearby parking lot and secured. Subsequently, the wings were disassembled and the airplane was transported to the Southern Airways Express maintenance facility at LNS. The airplane was retained for further examination.
The weather conditions at IAD at the time of the incident included a broken ceiling at 900 ft with a visibility of 1 statute mile in light snow and mist.