- Date
- July 11, 2023, 18:30 local (Jul 12, 2023, 02:30 UTC)
- Place
- McCarthy, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N814DWDehavilland DHC-2
- Defining event
- Landing: Sys/Comp malf/fail (non-power)
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Investigation class
- Class 4 - Basic report with no Prelim publish
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- Parties
- FAA/FSDO
- FAA report
- 20230711008779A
- Case key
- 192644
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
A failure of the right brake caliper bolts during landing, which resulted in a runway excursion and subsequent impact with terrain.
Findings · 1
NTSB’s coded findings. Those marked are part of the probable cause; the rest are factors or other findings. Under each, the cases with the same finding.
Sequence of events
The events NTSB coded, in order, by phase of flight. The defining event is the one that best describes the accident. Under each, the cases with the same event anywhere in their sequence.
Analysis
The pilot reported that during the landing roll on a gravel-covered airstrip, the airplane veered left, went through an embankment, and came to rest upright. A postaccident examination of the airplane revealed the right brake caliper bolts failed in overload. The lower bolt was broken in half, the upper bolt was not located, and the brake caliper was located in brush. Given that the airplane is routinely operated from rough, uneven, gravel-covered, off airport sites, it is likely that the brake caliper and bolts sustained impact damage, resulting in the failure of the attachment hardware.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N814DW
- Reported as
- Dehavilland DHC-2
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 34
- Built
- 1949
- Airframe hours
- 18,186
- Engine
- Pratt & Whitney R-985-AN-14B, 450 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Wrangell Mountain Air Inc
- Registered owner
- Wrangell Mountain Air Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 30, 2023 · 75 hours before
- Departed
- PAMX · McCarthy, AK
- Destination
- Same as departure
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 73
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, With waivers/limitations
- Seat
- Left
- Restraint
- 4-point
- Flight hours
- 9,379 total · 1,009 in this make and model · 9,361 as pilot in command · 91 in the last 90 days · 86 in the last 30 days · 5 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 55 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.95 inHg
- Observed at
- PAGK, 85 nm away
- METAR
- PAGK 111753Z AUTO VRB03KT 10SM CLR 13/08 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP141 T01330078 10133 20106 58001 TSNO
Docket · 2
The files NTSB released with the investigation on May 15, 2024, on NTSB’s docket system: statements, records, photos and specialists’ reports. 13.4 MB in all.
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.