Individually Owned: 151,845
Corporate Owned: 143,699
Wiley Post Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Barrow, Alaska 99723
Thursday, April 13, 1989 17:05 AKD
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE AIRPLANE HAD JUST DEPARTED BARROW, AK, ON A SCHEDULED COMMUTER FLIGHT WITH FIVE PASSENGERS AND TWO CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD. UPON REACHING AN ALTITUDE OF 150 AGL, THE CONTROL YOKE WAS PULLED FORWARD OUT OF THE CAPTAIN'S HANDS AND PINNED AGAINST THE CONTROL PANEL. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE SUDDENLY PITCHED UP 60 DEGREES ABOVE THE HORIZON. THE CAPTAIN REDUCED POWER AND THE NOSE PITCHED 30 DEGREES BELOW THE HORIZON. THE FLIGHT CREW WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE TO MAINTAIN A LEVEL ATTITUDE BY POWER ADJUSTMENTS ALONE, AND RETURNED FOR A SAFE LANDING. INSPECTION REVEALED A FATIGUE FRACTURED ELEVATOR BELLCRANK MOUNTING QUADRANT, P/N C6CFM1142-1, RESULTING IN A COMPLETE LOSS OF ELEVATOR CONTROL. THE ELEVATOR BELLCRANK MOUNTING QUADRANT HAD BEEN IN SERVICE SINCE 1966 AND HAD BEEN OPERATING 17,826 HRS. THE FRACTURE OCCURRED BETWEEN THE VERTICAL STABILIZER STUB FIN ATTACHMENT BULKHEAD AND THE BELLCRANK. METALLURGICAL EXAM REVEALED MULTIPLE FATIGUE ORIGINS IN THE VICINITY OF SUPERFICIAL MACHINING ABRASIONS.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
THE PROPAGATION OF A FATIGUE CRACK FROM MULTIPLE ORIGINS DUE TO MANUFACTURING DEFECTS IN THE ELEVATOR BELLCRANK MOUNTING QUADRANT.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 4/13/1989 |
| Event Day of the Week | Thursday |
| Time of Event | 1705 |
| Event Time Zone | -- |
| Event City | BARROW |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99723 |
| Event Date Year | 1989 |
| Event Date Month | 4 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | WILEY POST |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | BRW |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 0 |
| Airport Elevation | 44 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 0 |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | BRW |
| 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 | 6000 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 3300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Scattered |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 7 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 2 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -1 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 150 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| 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 | 7 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5005 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Apr 13 1989 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1722 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | 38593 |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 13 2000 12:35PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N100AP |
| NTSB Number | ANC89IA059 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | VFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | None |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DE HAVILLAND |
| Aircraft Model | DHC-6-100 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | DHC-6-100 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 22 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 11579 |
| 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 | 100 Hour |
| Date of Last Inspection | Mar 14 1989 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 57 |
| Airframe Hours | 17780 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | CAPE SMYTHE AIR SERVICE |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | BOX 549 |
| Aircraft Owner City | BARROW |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 99723 |
| 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 | CSAA |
| 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 | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger/Cargo |
| 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 | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | ATK |
| Destination City | ATQASUK |
| 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 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 24 |
| Runway Length | 6500 |
| Runway Width | 150 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |