- Date
- April 27, 1999, 13:15 local (21:15 UTC)
- Place
- Healy, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N3125Nde Havilland DHC-3
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 31, 2000
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19990427017329A
- Case key
- 46219
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
The pilot's selection of an unsafe/hazardous area for landing. Factors in the accident were the presence of a tail wind, the pilot's inadequate evaluation of the wind conditions, and a narrow airstrip.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The certificated airline transport pilot was landing a tailwheel equipped airplane on a remote airstrip located on a ridge line. The on-demand air taxi flight was the pilot's third landing of the day on the airstrip. The airstrip is oriented east/west, and is about 1,500 feet long and about 10 feet wide. The pilot said the airstrip is a one-way airstrip, with landings performed toward the west. The strip is flat for about half of the length, and then proceeds uphill. During the landing, the pilot touched down on the strip on the main landing gear. Before the tail wheel touched down, a gust of wind pushed the airplane off the left side of the strip. The leading edge of the left wing struck a tree, damaging the wing tip and wing nose ribs. The pilot said a tail wind was present, about 15 knots from 090 degrees.
Factual narrative
On April 27, 1999, about 1315 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel equipped deHavilland DHC-3 airplane, N3125N, sustained substantial damage during a landing on a remote airstrip, about 13 miles north-northeast of Healy, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand passenger flight under Title 14 CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Forty Mile Air Ltd., Tok, Alaska. The certificated airline transport pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Fairbanks International Airport, Fairbanks, Alaska, about 1000.
During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on May 3, 1999, the chief pilot for the operator reported he was flying the airplane into and out of a small airstrip located on a ridge line. He was transporting building supplies and workers to the area. The airstrip, known as Daniels Strip, is oriented east/west, and is about 1,500 feet long and about 10 feet wide. The pilot said the airstrip is a one-way airstrip, with landings performed toward the west. The strip is flat for about half of the length, and then proceeds uphill. The pilot said on the third landing of the day, he touched down on the strip on the main landing gear. Before the tail wheel touched down, a gust of wind pushed the airplane off the left side of the strip. The leading edge of the left wing struck a tree, damaging the wing tip and wing nose ribs. The pilot said a tail wind was present, about 15 knots from 090 degrees.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N3125N
- Reported as
- de Havilland DHC-3
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 394
- Engine
- Pezetel ASZ-62IR-M18, 1,000 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Forty Mile Air Ltd.
- Registered owner
- Charlie Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 25, 1998 · 54 hours before
- Departed
- FAI · Fairbanks, AK
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- Daniels Strip, runway 27, 1,500 × 10 ft, dirt
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
- 42
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,600 total · 400 in this make and model · 4,300 as pilot in command · 150 in the last 90 days · 65 in the last 30 days · 8 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 90° at 10 knots, gusting 15
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 39 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N3125N · 4
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.