Mountain Air Cargo

Mountain Air Cargo is an American cargo airline based in Denver, North Carolina, USA. It is a major contract carrier for FedEx Express, operating in the eastern USA and the Caribbean. Previous operations in South America have been discontinued by FedEx who now operate jet aircraft in that area. Its main maintenance facility is at Kinston Regional Jetport.

History

The airline was established in 1974 and is wholly owned by Air T. It has 231 employees (at March 2007).

Incidents and accidents

• 11 October 1985 - Mountain Air Cargo De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 (N3257), on a flight from State College to Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania, collided with rising terrian near Homer City, probably due to pilot error. The pilot was killed. There was no one else on board.
• 19 January 1988 - Mountain Air Cargo De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter 200 (N996SA), on a flight from Erie, Pennsylvania to Charlotte, North Carolina, descended below the glide path on approach to Charlotte/Douglas International Airport, collided with a tree and struck the ground 1.6km away from the airport. The crash was due to pilot error. The pilot was killed. There was no one else on board.
• 9 January 1998 - Mountain Air Cargo Cessna 208B Caravan I Super Cargomaster, on take off from Maiden-Little Mountain Airport, North Carolina, on a flight to Greensboro, veered off the runway and hit trees as it tried to ascend. The crash was due to pilot error. The pilot was killed. There was no one else on board.
• March 8 2003 - Mountain Air Cargo Fokker F27-500 N713FE, en route from Greensboro, North Carolina to New Bern North Carolina, indicated an unsafe landing gear condition during the approach to New Bern. A tower flyby was performed, and the tower controller confirmed the right gear was not fully extended. The pilot declared an emergency and diverted to Kinston, North Carolina Regional Jetport to conduct an emergency landing. On landing roll the right main landing gear collapsed and the airplane slid off of the runway. Examination of the right main landing gear revealed the drag brace was fractured. The aircraft was repaired by Mountain Air Cargo. There were no casualties.
• 27 April 2004 - Mountain Air Cargo Fokker F27-500 N715FE departed Buenos Aires, Argentina for a cargo flight to São Paulo-Viracopos, Brazil via Porto Alegre. En route on the first leg, a crew member noticed the presence of smoke and discovered a fire in the cargo bay. Efforts to extinguish the fire were unsuccessful. The crew declared an in-flight emergency to Montevideo control center. The crew effected a safe emergency landing at Melo, Uruguay, a small airport nearby. The crew evacuated the aircraft. Fire fighters arrived and succeeded in extinguishing the fire. The airplane suffered considerable damage in the cargo compartments E and F. There were no casualties.
• May 8 2008, two ATR 42-320s (N904FX and N905FX) were severely damaged by a tornado while parked on the ramp at Piedmont Triad Airport, Greensboro, North Carolina. Neither aircraft was occupied at the time, and there were no injuries. They have been removed from service, and, as of August, 2008, are to be scrapped after usable components have been salvaged.

Fleet

As of September 2008 the Mountain Air Cargo fleet includes :

• 8 ATR 42-300
• 2 ATR 42-320
• 2 ATR 72-202
• 3 ATR 72-212
• 2 Cessna 208 Caravan
• 40 Cessna 208B Caravan
• 1 Fokker F27 Mk500
• 2 Shorts 330-200

Other aircraft:

• 1 Raytheon Beech King Air C90B

This is used only as a corporate aircraft, and not for cargo.

NOTE: While some of the ATRs may be found listed as "F" models, this is as a result of having been converted from passenger usage to cargo. All of the ATRs used by Mountain Air were originally built as passenger versions.

One of the remaining Fokker F27s has been retired, and the other is to be retired soon.

External links

• Mountain Air Cargo
• Air T

References