# NTSB ANC11LA048: Dehavilland DHC-3T, N87AW, Bettles Field, AK, May 28, 2011 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: May 28, 2011, 14:00 local (22:00 UTC) - Place: Bettles Field, AK - Coordinates: 67.916664, -153.133331 - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=67.9167&lon=-153.1333&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Landing](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/550) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Defining event: [Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) - Highest injury: No injuries - Injuries: 2 uninjured - Status: Completed, report October 4, 2011 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - Parties: FAA FSDO-01 - NTSB case key (mKey): 80785 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC11LA048 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/80785/pdf - NTSB docket: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=80785 - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC11LA048 ## Probable cause The pilot's selection of unsuitable terrain for the landing, which resulted in a loss of directional control. ## Findings NTSB's coded findings; those marked are part of the probable cause. - [Performance/control parameters: directional control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020): Aircraft › Aircraft oper/perf/capability · Not attained/maintained (probable cause); cases with it: [Dehavilland DHC-3, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md?model=2802412), [All aircraft, 3,958 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01062020/cases.md) - [Use of equip/info: aircraft control](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040): Personnel issues › Task performance · Pilot (probable cause); cases with it: [Dehavilland DHC-3, 4 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md?model=2802412), [All aircraft, 9,295 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/02063040/cases.md) - [Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surface: soft surface](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03023020): Environmental issues › Physical environment · Contributed to outcome; cases with it: [Dehavilland DHC-3, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03023020/cases.md?model=2802412), [All aircraft, 264 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/03023020/cases.md) ## Sequence of events The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event best describes what happened. - [Landing-landing roll: Loss of control on ground](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230) (defining event); cases with it: [Dehavilland DHC-3, 3 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md?model=2802412), [All aircraft, 4,585 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/230/sequence.md) - [Landing-landing roll: Runway excursion](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300); cases with it: [Dehavilland DHC-3, 1 case](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md?model=2802412), [All aircraft, 3,643 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/300/sequence.md) - [Landing-landing roll: Collision with terr/obj (non-CFIT) ](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470); cases with it: [Dehavilland DHC-3, 2 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md?model=2802412), [All aircraft, 10,189 cases](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-events/470/sequence.md) ## Analysis The pilot was landing at a remote, private airstrip. He said the landing area was soft, and as the airplane touched down it veered to the left. His efforts to abort the landing with the runway remaining was unsuccessful. The airplane exited the right side of the landing area and collided with a fuel tank farm. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, aileron, and the fuselage. The pilot said there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. ## Factual narrative On May 28, 2011, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a De Havilland DHC-3T airplane, N87AW, sustained substantial damage during landing at a private airstrip, about 80 miles northwest of Bettles Field, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Alaska West Air, Kenai, Alaska, as a visual flight rules (VFR) passenger flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 135, when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot and sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight departed Coldfoot, Alaska, about 1300. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on May 29, the director of operations for the operator said the airplane ran off the end of the runway into a fuel tank farm. He said the airplane's right wing and aileron were damaged when the airplane struck a fuel storage tank. No mechanical anomalies prior to the accident were reported by the pilot. In a written statement to the NTSB dated August 1, the pilot said the landing area was soft, and after touching down the airplane veered a little to the left, and he corrected to the right. When he attempted to come back to the left, he didn't have enough rudder and brake authority to bring the airplane to the left, and not enough runway remaining to abort the landing. He was unable to stop the airplane before it collided with fuel spill equipment. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N87AW](https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N87AW), registered now, S/N 52, built 1954 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: DEHAVILLAND DHC-3T - Registry model: [Dehavilland DHC-3](https://openairdocs.org/model/dehavilland-dhc-3) (registry code 2802412) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Pratt & Whitney PT6A series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-pt6a-series) (registry code 52034, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Serial number: 52 - Airframe hours: 24169 - Engines: Pratt & Whitney PT6A 750 horsepower turbo prop - Damage: Substantial damage - Flight: Part 135 - Operator: Alaska West Air Inc, doing business as Alaska West Air - Registered owner: Summit Leasing LLC - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Last inspection: Annual, May 20, 2011 - Departed: PACX, Coldfoot, AK - Destination: Bettles Field, AK - Flight plan: Company VFR - Airport: Sun Private ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 52; injuries: none; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, with waivers/limitations; last flight review May 26, 2011; seat: left; flight hours: 9,000 total, 1,500 in this make and model, 2,000 as pilot in command, 55 in the last 90 days, 30 in the last 30 days, 4 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Visual (VMC), Day - Wind: 180° at 7 knots - Visibility: 100 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: none ## FAA reports on this event (1) The FAA's own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 20110528025039A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20110528025039A), May 28, 2011: Dehavilland DHC-3, Bettles, AK, Substantial damage. The pilot stated; that after touchdown the aircraft drifted to the left, he corrected right, but had insufficent rudder and brake to straighten the aircraft… ## Docket (1 files) The files NTSB released with the investigation on August 18, 2011, on NTSB's docket system: https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket?ProjectID=80785. 292 KB in all. - Pilot/Operator Aircraft Accident Report, NTSB Form 6120.1 (item 1, .PDF, 292 KB): https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40352738&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=Pilot%2FOperator%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Report,%20NTSB%20Form%206120.1-Redacted.PDF From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.