Mr. North wrote: ↑Sat Mar 23, 2019 1:32 am
Sounds like a Station 60 to me. The one significant weakness to an otherwise extremely robust bush plane.
Not sure if it was a factor in this case but as others have mentioned, landing on unproven snow or ice in flat light is not without considerable risk. Overcast conditions make recognizing the size and contours of snow drifts incredibly difficult. One mitigating factor would be to conduct a ski drag (dragging the heals of the skis over the surface) to assess the solidity of the terrain, usually followed with a second pass to inspect ones tracks. Sometimes though the contrast is so poor even a ski drag is a risk in itself.
Another factor at play here would be the use of wheel skis. The utility of wheel skis is at the expense of durability. When flying wheel skis it is important to keep in mind that they do not enjoy the flex of the leaf springs on board skis. Wheel skis are more rigid and much heavier than boards. The increased weight coupled with the broader surface area imparts much more force on the poor nose strut. Drifts that board skis would normally cut through or absorb can be quite jarring on wheel skis.
So baby that nose gear, especially on wheel skis. That means proving the ground you're about to touch down on. And on landing keep the nose off the ground until the last.. possible.. moment. Once on the ground it's also a good idea to taxi the full length of your planned take off run. Station 60's also occur on takeoff when pilots (often with a heavy load) run beyond their landing roll into unproven ground.
Sometimes despite all your efforts you break something. Its part of flying in the North.
However, returning to the incident at hand I find it interesting that the CF had to employ a heavy lift heli to recover their aircraft. There just so happens to be a well known DHC6 operator in Inuvik with a brand new hangar and a full complement of engineers with plenty of experience in just this sort of thing. But that's the bureaucracy of the CF for you. I respect our members in uniform but their methods of operating in the Arctic is always slow and cumbersome.
Looks like it happened again....
Original report in French...."C-GNDO, un appareil de type de Havilland DHC-6-300 exploité par Air Inuit, effectuait le vol
AIE641 depuis un camp situé au N55°40.74 / W077°11.17, QC à destination de Kuujjuarapik
(CYGW) QC, avec 2 pilotes à bord. Lors du décollage, un des skis s’est pris dans la neige, la roue
de nez s’est arrachée, et l’appareil est sorti de l’aire de décollage. L’appareil s’est immobilisé en
dehors de la surface préparée pour le décollage. Il n’y a eu aucun blessé. Le nez de l’appareil ainsi
que l’aile gauche, le train d'atterrissage, ainsi que le moteur et l’hélice de gauche ont tous subi des
dommages substantiels.
Google Translate report.....
"C-GNDO, a de Havilland DHC-6-300 aircraft operated by Air Inuit, was flying
AIE641 from a camp at N55 ° 40.74 / W077 ° 11.17, QC to Kuujjuarapik
(CYGW) QC, with 2 pilots on board. During take-off, one of the skis was caught in the snow, the wheel
Nose was torn off, and the aircraft came out of the takeoff area. The aircraft came to a standstill
outside the surface prepared for take-off. There were no injuries. The nose of the device as well
that the left wing, the landing gear, as well as the engine and the left propeller have all undergone
substantial damage."
Some might recognize that registraion....ex-Nordair......
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GC ... iAsjP0D07M:
