Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Alpine Airstrip Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Nuiqsut, Alaska 99879
Monday, November 25, 2013 10:21 AST
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
According to the operator, the purpose of the short, 22 minute flight was to deliver a load of oversized, oil drilling tools to a remote oil production site. The flightcrew reported that shortly after takeoff the first officer noticed that the airplane's elevator control movements appeared to be "momentarily stiff."
While en route to the destination, the flight engineer was asked to inspect the cargo, and he subsequently discovered that two of the four, 31-foot long oil drilling tools had shifted aft, damaging the aft pressure bulkhead. The captain did not declare an emergency, and the airplane landed at the destination without incident.
A postflight inspection revealed substantial damage to the aft pressure bulkhead assembly, as well as various frames, stringers and structural longerons. In addition, several attachments for the elevator flight control pulleys and flight control cable guides were damaged. The operator noted that the airplane's pressurization system had been removed years ago, when the airplane was converted to a cargo configuration.
The operator reported that after loading the airplane, just before departure, the crew inspected the five nylon strapping mechanisms that secured the four drilling tools to the floor of the airplane. The crew reported that all five of the nylon straps were tight before departure, but gathered that one or more had loosened slightly during taxi and takeoff, allowing two of the tools to shift aft during takeoff. The crew also noted that the drilling tools were covered with ice and snow, which likely aided in the tools sliding along the aluminum, diamond plate-covered floor of the airplane.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
A load shift during takeoff, which resulted in substantial damage to the aft bulkhead and associated structures.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 11/25/2013 |
| Event Day of the Week | Monday |
| Time of Event | 1021 |
| Event Time Zone | Atlantic Standard Time |
| Event City | Nuiqsut |
| Event State | ALASKA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 99879 |
| Event Date Year | 2013 |
| Event Date Month | 11 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 702039N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1505641W |
| Event Location Airport | ALPINE AIRSTRIP |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | AK15 |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | On Airport |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 0 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 175 |
| Airport Elevation | 21 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Pilot |
| Time of the weather observation | |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | -- |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | -- |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | -- |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | -- |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | -- |
| Lighting Conditions | Night |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 1100 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 4 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | -21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | -22 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 210 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 10 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.33 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 3 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 32551 |
| NTSB Notification Source | Fairbanks FSDO |
| NTSB Notification Date | -- |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2014 7:07PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N100CE |
| NTSB Number | ANC14CA012 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | DOUGLAS |
| Aircraft Model | DC-6 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 44662 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 100000 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | 3 |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 3 |
| Number of Engines | 4 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Nov 21 2013 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | 32042 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | C126 |
| Aircraft Owner Name | TATONDUK OUTFITTERS LTD |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | -- |
| Aircraft Owner City | FAIRBANKS |
| Aircraft Owner State | AK |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 997094470 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | TATONDUK OUTFITTERS LTD |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | FAIRBANKS |
| Operator State | AK |
| Operator Country | USA |
| Operator Zip code | 997094470 |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| 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) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | -- |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | AK15 |
| Departure City | Nuiqsut |
| Departure State | AK |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | -- |
| Departure Time Zone | AST |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | PASC |
| Destination City | Deadhorse |
| Destination State | AK |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | -- |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 20 2014 7:12PM |
| User who most recently changed record | stam |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 03 |
| Runway Length | 5005 |
| Runway Width | 100 |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |