Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Grand Canyon Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Grand Canyon, Arizona 86023
Wednesday, September 27, 1989 9:53 MST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
GRAND CANYON AIRLINES FLT 5 (DEHAVILLAND DHC-6, N75GC) DEPD GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK ARPT ON A LOCAL PART 135, SIGHT- SEEING FLT. AFTER RTRNG FROM A NORMAL TRIP, THE FLT WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RWY 21. OBSERVERS RPRTD THE APCH TO THE ARPT WAS NORMAL, BUT THE ACFT TRAVELED ABOUT 1000' DOWN THE RWY AT AN ALT OF ABOUT 5' BEFORE TOUCHDOWN. RPRTDLY, IT BOUNCED &TRAVELED ANOTHER 1000' BEFORE TOUCHING DOWN AGAIN. THE ACFT THEN VEERED TO THE RGT & THE FLT CREW INITIATED A GO-AROUND (ABORTED LNDG). THE ACFT CLIMBED IN A NOSE HIGH ALT TO ABOUT 150' TO 200' AGL, THEN IT ROLLED TO THE LEFT & CRASHED ONTOA WOODED HILL ABOUT 120' LEFT OF THE RWY. A PWR LINE WAS SEVERED DURING IMPACT, WHICH INTERUPTED ELEC PWR TO THE ARPT & DELAYED EMERG RESPONSE TO THE CRASH. SURVIVING PSGRS RPRTD THE RGT SEAT PLT WAS FLYING THE ACFT, WHILE THE LEFT SEAT PLTNARRATED THE TOUR; BUT AFTER A HARD TOUCHDOWN, THE LEFT SEAT PLT TOOK CTL OF THE ACFT & APPLIED FULL PWR FOR A GO-AROUND. A SCRAPE MARK WAS FND WHERE THE RGT WINGTIP SCRAPED THE RWY DURING THE 2ND TOUCHDOWN.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
IMPROPER PILOT TECHNIQUES AND CREW COORDINATION DURING THE LANDING ATTEMPT, BOUNCE, AND ATTEMPTED GO-AROUND.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 9/27/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Wednesday |
| Time of Event | 953 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Standard Time |
| Event City | GRAND CANYON |
| Event State | ARIZONA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 86023 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 9 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | GRAND CANYON |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | GCN |
| 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 | 6606 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 950 Mountain Standard Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | GCN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 6660 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MST |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 8000 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 50 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 5 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 160 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 0 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | 10 |
| Injury Total Minor | 2 |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | 9 |
| Injury Total All | 21 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 1541 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Sep 27 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1030 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 39882 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 1:03PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N75GC |
| NTSB Number | DCA89MA076 |
| 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 | Destroyed |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | de Havilland |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-6-300 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DHC-6-300 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 439 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 12500 |
| 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 | 21 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Sep 23 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 19 |
| Airframe Hours | 11180 |
| ELT Installed | Unknown |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Yes |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | GRAND CANYON AIRLINES |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 3038 |
| Aircraft Owner City | GRAND CANYON |
| Aircraft Owner State | AZ |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 86023 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | |
| Operator City | |
| Operator State | |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | |
| Operator Code | GCNA |
| 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 | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 0 |
| Departure Time Zone | |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | |
| Destination City | |
| Destination State | |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Landing |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 21 |
| Runway Length | 8999 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |