ANC05LA025

The airline transport pilot of the CFR Part 121 scheduled passenger flight landed the airplane on an ice-covered, gravel airstrip in gusty crosswind conditions. He estimated the winds were a direct crosswind at 20-25 knots, and gusty. The pilot reported that after a straight-in approach to runway 16, a gust of wind caused the airplane to slide sideways on the runway during the landing roll. The airplane exited the right side of the runway, the nose landing gear collapsed, and the airplane came to rest on the nose and right wing. The airplane received structural damage to the nose and right wing.

On January 27, 2005, about 1015 Alaska standard time, a wheel-equipped deHavilland DHC-6-200 airplane, N201EH, sustained substantial damage when the airplane slid off the runway during the landing roll, and its nose gear collapsed at the Toksook Bay Airport, Toksook Bay, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Era Aviation, of Anchorage, Alaska, as an instrument flight rules (IFR) scheduled domestic passenger flight under Title 14, CFR Part 121, when the accident occurred. The airline transport certificated captain, the first officer, and the six passengers, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and an instrument flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Tununak Airport, Tununak, Alaska, about 1008.

In a written statement dated January 27, 2005, the pilot reported about 500 feet into the landing roll on runway 16, a gust of wind "blew us sideways." He wrote, "I could not straighten the aircraft, and we started to drift off the edge." He reported he had started to add power to initiate an aborted landing, but as he did so, he thought the airplane struck a runway light, and he reduced power and continued the landing roll. Exiting the right side of the runway the nose gear strut broke off, and the right main landing gear ran over the runway edge embankment. The airplane came to rest on the nose and right wing.

The airport at Toksook Bay is unattended, and there is no official weather reporting station. There is however, a digital weather camera, which updates the picture every 10 minutes. The camera is located in a ramp area and looks northwest toward the approach end of runway 16. Coincidentally the camera took a picture of the accident airplane on short final to runway 16 at 1916, and again sitting on the side of the runway at 1926. In both pictures the windsock and segmented circle are clearly visible in the foreground, and indicated a crosswind from the left.

In a written statement dated January 27, the pilot reported that he believed the wind speed was about 20-25 knots.

During an examination of the airplane on February 3, the NTSB investigator-in-charge observed structural damage to the fuselage and the right wing.