Video of Alaska DC-6 Crash

Hate to see a tough old bird wrecked like that.
 
Approach was too low. End of story.
How can you say that man. He was only rolling the tires through the grass for the last couple hundred yards. Before the runway...

that said if the 4’ tall piles of gravel were not there it would have been pretty cool. Anyone here have experience getting the -6 into really tight spots? I’m curious what an experienced pilot would say.
 
Honest, it looked like he was offset to the side a bit and there were clearly vehicles on the left side of the runway.
 
Sucks. Love the old prop giants
 
New play ground for the children in the village.

I used to enjoy jump seating on the DC-6.

What village did this happen? At least it was not stuck on the runway.
 
It was from Candle Mine airstrip. AK75. Plane was picked over for whatever was useful and left.
 
Wow, did the vehicles parked for filming interfer with his approach? Or is it normal to be cultivating the unfrozen tundra while on short final
 
Wow, did the vehicles parked for filming interfer with his approach? Or is it normal to be cultivating the unfrozen tundra while on short final

The airstrip is also a road that connects the different parts of the mine.
 
Its a different world up there, local news featured two prime time slots when pilot landed on highway here. Best part was(safely). The 2nd was to film the takeoff..i missed it but drove past the plane at the sphinx station
 
Wow, did the vehicles parked for filming interfer with his approach? Or is it normal to be cultivating the unfrozen tundra while on short final
Vehicles parked that close are way outside the law, or should be. I couldn't find a FAR equivalent to ours in Canada:

CAR 301.08
No person shall

  • (a) walk, stand, drive a vehicle, park a vehicle or aircraft or cause an obstruction on the movement area of an aerodrome, except in accordance with permission given
    • (i) by the operator of the aerodrome, and
    • (ii) where applicable, by the appropriate air traffic control unit or flight service station;
 
I couldn't find a FAR equivalent to ours in Canada:
There isn't one for an runway outside a "dedicated" FAA runway. And if there was, I'd bet there would be an exemption for Alaska ops as there is for other items listed in the FARs.
 
Messing with a runway in Alaska is a serious deal. Not just FAA, but State Troopers, but this video was all about a pilot error. People waiting for a plane on a remote strip is the norm.
 
Berm came out of nowhere./

If you've ever raced in Baja, Mex. the locals like to put berms, rocks, impromptu fences etc. on the road just to see how a motorcycle or buggy deal with it. Perhaps someone built up a berm "just for fun"?
 
It was from Candle Mine airstrip. AK75. Plane was picked over for whatever was useful and left.

Oh.... Candle. I used to fly in there when I was based in Kotz. I mostly took hunters or fisherman in and out of there. Only one family lived there, about 7 people. It was a flag stop and not on a schedule. I'm not surprised that with the price of gold the old mines are getting picked over again.

Candle had a population of around 15,000 when the gold mining was hot and heavy in the early 1900s. I seem to remember dirt piles near the end of the landing area when I was going there 15-18 years ago, left over from making the landing strip and used whenever someone needs to fill in pot holes.

And the folks waiting on the end of the runway was just normal...
 
If you've ever raced in Baja, Mex. the locals like to put berms, rocks, impromptu fences etc. on the road just to see how a motorcycle or buggy deal with it. Perhaps someone built up a berm "just for fun"?

Landing strips are the life blood of the villages and work areas. People understand that if the landing area gets run down then the planes stop coming in.

There have been instances where a village banned folks from their village for messing with the landing area and/or airplanes. Banned as they have to leave and cannot even return to visit their family.
 
This has probably been posted on POA before but it is on topic. :) Fairchild C119 taking off from Port Lions, Kodiak Island, Alaska. It was a ferry flight. The airplane had been sitting for many years after a forced landing and was patched up to be ferried to a larger field for more extensive repairs. The pilots had let the locals know that they would be using every inch of available runway for takeoff and to please stay clear, but a man and his son decided to watch the takeoff standing at the departure end of field, in the path of the 119. Apparently the son actually passed through arc of one of the props but was not struck...

I flew into Port Lions a few times hauling a fisherman buddy who was based there for 2 seasons. Good strip for a 185.

 
That's one of the C119s that was fitted with a small turbojet above the wing. I recall reading about the mod years ago but can't remember the details.
 
DC-6 took 12+ hours from Alameda Ca. to Hawaii, at least the seat's were more comfortable than they are now also more leg room. With the end of 115/145 and only 100ll they did not do well on that.
 
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...if the 4’ tall piles of gravel were not there it would have been pretty cool.

That was my thought. Maybe the fuel truck and people standing right at the point of intended touch down, on the other side, might have been a factor. Pretty narrow spot for a bird that big.
 
That's one of the C119s that was fitted with a small turbojet above the wing. I recall reading about the mod years ago but can't remember the details.
Burned avgas...I’m pretty sure it was from the right side, so if you had an engine fire on the right engine, you actually shut down both the right and the jet.

edit...yup...
http://www.ruudleeuw.com/c119-dugan_story.htm
 
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Vehicles parked that close are way outside the law, or should be. I couldn't find a FAR equivalent to ours in Canada:

Looks like the vehicle was as close to the runway as that fuel tank visible near the end. Unless that tank is on wheels, it would seem the vehicle was out of the way.
 
Buck 118's / DC6 were junk when the Navy retired them. many of them still had coal dust in them
 
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