She had to go and lose it at Alaska (premature end of a proud DC-6)

[Garfly]

 

 

 

[FlyBoy1960]

Did it hit something ?

 

[Garfly]

Yes, the berm of gravel just after the bushes.  If that hadn't been there they probably would have been okay.

Edited April 28, 2021 by Garfly

[Mewp]

If the car and people weren't there he could have made a better approach

[Garfly]

This little film has some nice pics and good information about DC6 ops in Alaska

 

 

 

[APenNameAndThatA]

I don’t understand why they approached at an angle to the runway? There was no wind. 

[Garfly]

I'm pretty sure the approach would have been lined up on the runway even though it may not look quite like it in this video. But the refuelling crew crowded around the threshold would, at least, have been a distraction on final.  He was obviously trying to plant it right on the threshold, and those little piles of rubble would have been obscured by the bushes.

[Garfly]

The type was obviously celebrated up there. She would have been a sad loss.

 

 

 

[Garfly]

The NTSB report:

 

Report_ANC19LA045_100050_4_28_2021 8_02_45 AM.pdf

 

 

Looks like a marginal strip to get an airliner into at the best of times.

 

This'd be the Rwy 20 threshold area 

 

 

 

 

This shows the full 1200 m.  strip.

 

[onetrack]

This was just just milliseconds before it all went wrong. Trying to level out piles of rubble with your MLG is never going to work.

 

 

[Garfly]

 

Talking of man-traps waiting for the unwary undershooter:

 

 

 

[onetrack]

They were darn lucky the powerlines and pole gave some amount, and that they didn't go directly nose-down, into terra firma. Powerlines have killed a lot of aviators.

 

And just having the powerlines so close to the airstrip, is some pretty stupid planning. 

 

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/08/warning-video-of-plane-crash-contains.html

[Thruster88]

Landing short has caught out many aviators. 

 

 

 

[facthunter]

Takes a bit of force to rip off a DC6  set of wheels. He was too low all the way in and the runway looks as if stopping would have been difficult anyway. It's bloody short. Nev

[cooperplace]

On 28/04/2021 at 10:47 PM, onetrack said:

They were darn lucky the powerlines and pole gave some amount, and that they didn't go directly nose-down, into terra firma. Powerlines have killed a lot of aviators.

 

And just having the powerlines so close to the airstrip, is some pretty stupid planning. 

 

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/08/warning-video-of-plane-crash-contains.html

Power lines too close? I thought that was the definition of an aircraft landing area?

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 28/04/2021 at 7:24 PM, APenNameAndThatA said:

I don’t understand why they approached at an angle to the runway? There was no wind. 

The runway has a bend in it. Why didn’t I think of that

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 29/04/2021 at 12:41 PM, facthunter said:

Takes a bit of force to rip off a DC6  set of wheels. He was too low all the way in and the runway looks as if stopping would have been difficult anyway. It's bloody short. Nev

Funny you should mention that. The runway length was 3880 ft and the landing distance for a DC6 is apparently 2600 to 4000 feet. 

[facthunter]

It looked as though they were only using part of it.   and it looked very short form touchdown point to the end of what was left of the runway. Nev

[Garfly]

 

I thought they got into trouble because they were trying too hard to use every centimetre of it. 

As to the rest of the runway it's hard to tell in the video but you get some idea from the Google Earth pic.

 

 

[facthunter]

IF there was adequate length why treat it as if every foot count's? It's a massive undershoot. They have very effective reverse thrust. Far better than Jets have and it works at slow speeds too. The U/C leg digging in eventually did the damage  You'd lose the hydraulic oil pretty quick so no brakes or nosewheel steering.. Nev

[Garfly]

Ah, I see what you were getting at Nev. 

Anyway, the thread about the SAAB overrun in the Aleutians also indicates how marginal some of the RPT strips in Alaska really are. In that case, though, we have the exact opposite problem, a deadly overrun caused, in part, by a sudden backing wind that putting 30KT on the tail. (Unfortunately that crash was a fatal - a broken prop through the cabin killed one guy.)

 

 

[APenNameAndThatA]

On 28/04/2021 at 11:17 PM, onetrack said:

They were darn lucky the powerlines and pole gave some amount, and that they didn't go directly nose-down, into terra firma. Powerlines have killed a lot of aviators.

 

And just having the powerlines so close to the airstrip, is some pretty stupid planning. 

 

http://www.kathrynsreport.com/2012/08/warning-video-of-plane-crash-contains.html

The report said that the power pole was 27’ high and 360’ feet from the end of the runway. That’s an angle of 4.3 degrees. Most light aircraft (as opposed to LSA’s) approach at 3 degrees. Unbelievable. 

[Garfly]

This video gives an idea of normal DC6 ops at what appears to be the same strip. It suggests that a close terrain following approach was SOP there.  I reckon that berm of gravel hidden in the bushes at the threshold was the unexpected factor that spoiled their day. The hill hugging glide-slope is reminiscent of the famous RWY10 approach at St. Barths in the Caribbean (below)

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 5, 2021 by Garfly

[Garfly]

And, since too much DC-6 lore is never enough: