Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Fairbanks Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
Friday, February 10, 1989 9:45 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE PLT RPRTD THAT BEFORE THE FLT, THE WINGS & STABILIZER WERE SWEPT, LEAVING A LAYER OF 'POLISHED' FROST. FREIGHT WAS LOADED & THE ACFT WAS SERVICED TO BRING THE FUEL LEVEL UP TO 120 GAL. AFTER START, TAXI & RUN-UP, THE PLT BEGAN HIS TAKEOFF FROM THE APPROACH END OF THE 10,300 FT RWY (WITH 35' MP & 2250 RPM). AT ABOUT 100 FT AGL, HE ADJUSTED THE POWER (TO 30' MP & 2000 RPM) & RAISED THE FLAPS TO CLIMB AT 82 KTS. HOWEVER, THE ACFT DID NOT CLIMB & WOULD NOT ACCELERATE IN LEVEL FLT. THE PLT INCREASED THE POWER (TO 31' MP & 2100 RPM), BUT HE BELIEVED THERE WAS A DEFINITE LOSS OF POWER. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT WAS DAMAGED WHEN THE PLT ABORTED THE TAKEOFF ON SNOW COVERED TERRAIN BEYOND THE END OF THE RWY. NO PRE-ACDNT PART FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE ACFT OR ENG WAS FOUND. AN INV REVEALED THE ENTIRE ACFT WAS COVERED WITH A COATING OF FROST. COMPANY RECORDS SHOWED THE EMPTY WEIGHT OF THE ACFT WAS 5088 LBS; THE ACFT'S ACTUAL EMPTY WEIGHT WAS 5285 LBS. AN FAA INSPECTOR CALCULATED THAT THE TAKEOFF GROSS WEIGHT EXCEEDED THE MAX LIMIT BY 130 LBS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
FAILURE OF THE PILOT TO REMOVE FROST FROM THE AIRCRAFT. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE: IMPROPER WEIGHT AND BALANCE AND SNOW COVERED TERRAIN.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 2/10/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Friday |
| Time of Event | 945 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | FAIRBANKS |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99701 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 2 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | FAIRBANKS |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | FAI |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 434 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Unknown |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 0 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 90 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -17 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -- |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 360 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 5 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | -- |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 1 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 475 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Feb 10 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38975 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N5056Q |
| NTSB Number | ANC89FA043 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | Company VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-3 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DHC-3 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 296 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 8000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 1 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Annual |
| Date of Last Inspection | Dec 20 1988 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 83 |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | 40 MILE AIR LTD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | BOX 539 |
| Aircraft Owner City | TOK |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99780 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | P.O. BOX 539 |
| Operator City | TOK |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 99780 |
| Operator Code | FMAA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Non-scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Cargo |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | FAI |
| Departure City | FAIRBANKS |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 845 |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | EAA |
| Destination City | EAGLE |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:35AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 1 |
| Runway Length | 10300 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |