ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 318812
| Date: | Tuesday 24 May 2022 |
| Time: | 15:10 |
| Type: |  de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Turbine Otter |
| Owner/operator: | Yakutat Coastal Airlines |
| Registration: | N703TH |
| MSN: | 456 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1965 |
| Engine model: | General Electric H80 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 4 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Dry Bay Airport, AK -
 United States of America
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Yakutat Airport, AK (YAK/PAYA) |
| Dry Bay Airport, AK | |
| Investigating agency: | NTSB |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
A de Havilland Canada DHC-3T Turbine Otter (GE Aviation Czech M601H-80 turbine powered) crashed short of the runway while attempting to land at Dry Bay Airport (3AK), Yakutat, Alaska. The pilot and three passengers were seriously injured. The aircraft sustained substantial damage.
The pilot reported that during the takeoff roll from Yakutat Airport, he applied takeoff engine power and about 2 seconds later attempted to raise the tail of the airplane by applying forward elevator. He said that the tail came up slightly, but it subsequently settled back to the runway. He thought this was unusual but attributed it to an aft loaded airplane, applied additional nose down trim and departed without incident.
While enroute he stated that the tail of the airplane seemed to move up and down which he attributed to turbulence. Upon arrival at Dry Bay Airport he entered a left downwind for runway 23. At an altitude of about 600 ft, he reduced engine power and extended the flaps to 10° abeam the end of the runway. He turned base leg about half a mile from the approach end of the runway and slowed the airplane to 80 mph. While turning final he noticed the airplane seemed to pitch up, so he applied full nose down pitch trim and extended the flaps an additional 10°. On short final he applied full flaps, and the airplane abruptly pitched up to about a 45° angle. He stated that he applied full nose down elevator, verified the pitch trim, and reduced the power to idle. When the airplane was about 300 ft above ground level, the airplane stalled, broke slightly to the left and entered about a 45° nose down dive. After allowing the airplane to gain airspeed, he applied full back elevator.
The airplane consequently impacted forested terrain near the approach end of runway 23 at an elevation of about 18 ft, which resulted in substantial damage to the fuselage, wings, and empennage.
Probable Cause: The pilot’s failure to determine the actual weight and balance of the airplane before departure, which resulted in the airplane being operated outside of the aft center of gravity limits and the subsequent aerodynamic stall on final approach. Contributing to the accident was the Federal Aviation Administration's failure to require weight and balance documentation for 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 135 single-engine operations.
Accident investigation:
 |
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Sources:
adn.com
kinyradio.com
alaskasnewssource.com
Location
Revision history:
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