DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Topics related to accidents, incidents & over due aircraft should be placed in this forum.

Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore

Post Reply
J31
Rank (9)
Rank (9)
Posts: 1233
Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 7:21 am

DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by J31 »

A Tatonduk Outfitters Douglas DC-6 on behalf of Everts Air Cargo, registration N451CE performing flight VTS-25 from Fairbanks,AK to Candle,AK (USA) with 3 people on board, was on approach to Candle's runway when the aircraft struck a berm causing damage to the landing gear. The aircraft continued the landing.

http://avherald.com/h?article=4cb198d9&opt=0

I think that one is a write off!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... e=emb_logo
---------- ADS -----------
 
User avatar
98 Corolla
Rank 2
Rank 2
Posts: 87
Joined: Wed Jan 10, 2018 10:26 am

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by 98 Corolla »

The truck parked on the runway probably didn't help.
---------- ADS -----------
 
PostmasterGeneral
Rank 8
Rank 8
Posts: 835
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2009 3:50 pm

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by PostmasterGeneral »

Holy shit look at that wheel go! Hahaha
---------- ADS -----------
 
Mick G
Rank 4
Rank 4
Posts: 254
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 7:21 pm
Location: Alberta

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by Mick G »

Whoever left those piles of gravel so close to the runway threshold should be facing criminal charges.
---------- ADS -----------
 
pelmet
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 7138
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:48 pm

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by pelmet »

Mick G wrote: Tue Feb 11, 2020 7:00 pm Whoever left those piles of gravel so close to the runway threshold should be facing criminal charges.
Runway length is just over 3800'. Not sure what a DC-6 requires(although a YouTube commenter says it was tight) and not sure how familiar they were with this airport, but some of the northern operators of big aircraft have a strip check done prior to going in with the big plane with pertinent info then supplied to the flight crews. Then if a hazard like this is seen, it can be dealt with either by removing the hazard or making crews aware of it. I suppose if this hasn't been done, don't touchdown too close to the threshold. Looked like his gear was in the bushes. Weird stuff can be left near the runways at remote places like this.
---------- ADS -----------
 
User avatar
valleyboy
Rank 8
Rank 8
Posts: 797
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:05 am
Contact:

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by valleyboy »

3800 feet is tight and threshold crossing is reduced to almost zero to get it done. The DC6 does have reverse so a little better than breaks only. We operated out of 4000 ft with a CV440 but weights were restricted. I would imagine the magic number for a dc6 loaded would be around 5000 ft for runway length. What is the airport elevation??
---------- ADS -----------
 
Black air has no lift - extra fuel has no weight
http://www.blackair.ca
User avatar
PilotDAR
Rank 11
Rank 11
Posts: 4053
Joined: Sun Sep 30, 2012 6:46 pm
Location: Near CNJ4 Orillia, Ontario

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by PilotDAR »

Google Earth shows the "runway" as "Tractor Trail" (so as to be a road on Google Earth, rather than a runway. The image is from 2010, so the fuel tanks are not in the same location. It looks like the available length is/was 4400 feet, but I can still see why the pilot would be dragging it in short.

Sad for the old bird....
---------- ADS -----------
 
Big Pistons Forever
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 5861
Joined: Wed Feb 18, 2004 7:17 pm
Location: West Coast

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by Big Pistons Forever »

Sad to see. Not many working Big Pistons left. 3800ft is indeed tight for a DC6 and would require planning on a touchdown near the threshold, which should be fine unless there is a big berm there....
---------- ADS -----------
 
Mick G
Rank 4
Rank 4
Posts: 254
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 7:21 pm
Location: Alberta

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by Mick G »

Big Pistons Forever wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2020 4:30 pm Sad to see. Not many working Big Pistons left. 3800ft is indeed tight for a DC6 and would require planning on a touchdown near the threshold, which should be fine unless there is a big berm there....
Guys, I think you are missing the point here. Yes, the landing distance for a 6 is tight at 3800....the point is there was no natural BERM, if you pause the video around the 6 second mark, there are at least 5 pyramid shaped piles of gravel or road crush either ON the runway or right around the threshold. We don't know if they did a flyby to assess or not, but the gravel piles may have been camouflaged and/or not easy to see.

The idiot in charge of the runway maintenance ought to face some sort of criminal charge. Forget the plane, people could have died here; no joke. This was a totally preventable accident.
---------- ADS -----------
 
User avatar
valleyboy
Rank 8
Rank 8
Posts: 797
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:05 am
Contact:

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by valleyboy »

not missing the point at all. Unlicensed strip, use at your own peril. Who put those guys in there and why weren't some kind of runway report. I assume they would have at least a sat phone on site. One could wonder if the berms had been there for a while and people got complacent about reporting to a crew that might be unfamiliar. Yes the berms should not be there but they were and I'm curious why 3 sets of eyes did not notice them. They landed way too close to the threshhold and if they had even landed at the 150 ft mark life would have been much better. The crew needs to take part of the blame, no question. Short field, tunnel vision approach and they landed too short and didn't notice the obstacles. F/o's side. and possibly head down calling speeds and sink rate (speculation but from experience) and the fe likely could not see them because of landing attitude.
---------- ADS -----------
 
Last edited by valleyboy on Thu Feb 13, 2020 8:11 am, edited 1 time in total.
Black air has no lift - extra fuel has no weight
http://www.blackair.ca
Heliian
Rank (9)
Rank (9)
Posts: 1976
Joined: Wed Apr 29, 2009 2:14 pm

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by Heliian »

Nah, it's just another day in Alaska. Pretty sure they average 1 wreck per day up there now.
---------- ADS -----------
 
User avatar
valleyboy
Rank 8
Rank 8
Posts: 797
Joined: Tue May 03, 2016 4:05 am
Contact:

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by valleyboy »

Nah, it's just another day in Alaska. Pretty sure they average 1 wreck per day up there now.
What's that phrase "Alaska, the last frontier" :mrgreen:
---------- ADS -----------
 
Black air has no lift - extra fuel has no weight
http://www.blackair.ca
pelmet
Top Poster
Top Poster
Posts: 7138
Joined: Tue Jun 14, 2005 2:48 pm

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by pelmet »

valleyboy wrote: Wed Feb 12, 2020 8:25 pm not missing the point at all. Unlicensed strip, use at your own peril. Who put those guys in there and why weren't some kind of runway report. I assume they would have at least a sat phone on site. One could wonder if the berms had been there for a while and people got complacent about reporting to a crew that might be unfamiliar. Yes the berms should not be there but they were and I'm curious why 3 sets of eyes did not notice them. They landed way too close to the threshhold and if they had even landed at the 150 ft mark life would have been much better. The crew needs to take part of the blame, no question. Short field, tunnel vision approach and they landed too short and didn't notice the obstacles. F/o's side. and possibly head down calling speeds and sink rate (speculation but from experience) and the fe likely could not see them because of landing attitude.
I suspect that it would be pretty difficult for a crew to see a pile of gravel hidden by bushes on a gravel runway. Even if not hidden, depending on light, it could easily not be seen even in the middle of the runway well past the threshold. I suspect there had been some sort of general report(perhaps by phone) as good runway-no ruts-no soft spots etc. I guess if you want to maximize the runway use, you need details about the threshold area as well.
---------- ADS -----------
 
bcflyer
Rank (9)
Rank (9)
Posts: 1304
Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2004 8:35 am
Location: Canada

Re: DC6 lands short at Candle on Aug 1st 2019

Post by bcflyer »

If you need to land that close to the threshold you shouldn’t be landing there. I’ve been into my fair share of short strips and not once did I need to drag the main gear through the bush at the end of the runway. My bet is they were showing off for the camera (who were conveniently parked right at the end) and got lower than planned.
---------- ADS -----------
 
Post Reply

Return to “Accidents, Incidents & Overdue Aircraft”