Grand Caravan over fairhope

Multi-purpose airplane over Fairhope: A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan EX flies along the eastern shore late Wednesday morning after departing from Crestview, FL. Captured about 2,350 feet up, the aircraft moves at 147 knots or 169 mph. Described by Cessna as the ultimate utility vehicle, the Grand Caravan can carry up to 14 occupants while taking off and landing on short runways. The aircraft’s first version received its flight certification in 1984 with a freighter variant developed for FedEx. Flight training, commuter air service, VIP transport, air cargo, skydiving and humanitarian missions are among uses cited for the Grand Caravan which can be fitted with floats for landing on water. The aircraft’s registered owner is a Texas-based aviation services provider. Photo shot from Fairhope, roughly half a mile from the aircraft.

In May of 2022, the pilot of a Grand Caravan becomes incapacitated while in flight. A passenger with no flight experience successfully lands the aircraft at Palm Beach International Airport with the help of an air traffic controller who is a certified flight instructor. On the sixth of this month, ten lives are lost when a Grand Caravan EX operated by Bering Air crashes on an ice floe southeast of Nome, AK. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating…