Pilot Says Plane Hit Thermal, Became Low on Landing
Approach
The NTSB has issued a
preliminary report on the May 30 incident involving a
rare DC-4 in McGrath, AK.
According to the report, the wheel-equipped Douglas DC-4,
modified as a Carvair ATL-98, sustained substantial damage when it
collided with the approach end of a remote mine site runway at the
Nixon Fork Mine Airport during the landing flare/touchdown, about
28 miles northeast of McGrath, AK.
According to the captain, the airplane encountered sinking air
and became low on the landing approach, and the right main landing
gear struck the lip of the gravel-surface 4,200-foot runway, about
1,510 msl.
The right main landing gear was torn off, which allowed the nose
and right wing to collide with the runway surface. The right wing
was torn off the fuselage, caught fire, and continued to burn for
1½ hours. The fuselage, containing the cargo of fuel
bladders, slid to a stop, rotating about 90 degrees to the
left.
The airplane, operated by Brooks Air Transport, dba Brooks Fuel,
Inc., Fairbanks, AK, was being operated as a VFR cross-country
non-scheduled cargo flight under Title 14, CFR Part 125, when the
accident occurred.
The captain, an airline transport certificated pilot, and the
first officer, a commercial certificated pilot, were uninjured.
Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and VFR company
flight following procedures were in effect. The flight originated
at the Fairbanks International Airport about 10:30 am and the
accident occurred at about noon.
The pilot indicated that the weather conditions consisted of an
east wind of about 5 to 10 knots, and mostly clear skies, with
isolated areas of convective cloud formations.
Akin in appearance to a shrunken, propeller-equipped 747, the
Carvair (shown below) was built off the fuselage of a DC-4 but
modified with more powerful engines, a larger vertical stabilizer,
and a nose-mounted, swingaway cargo door -- part of an
eight-foot extension to the plane's nose. To clear the door, the
plane's cockpit was raised above the fuselage, giving the aircraft
its humpbacked appearance. A prototype aircraft first flew in 1961;
only 21 frames were produced by Aviation Traders Ltd.
The aircraft that crashed last week was one of only two flying
Carvairs still remaining. The plane is likely a total loss.
Airborne 06.30.25: US v ADS-B Misuse, Natl STOL Fire, Volocopter Resumes
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