ASN Aircraft accident Douglas DC-6B OY-EAP Kobenhavn-Kastrup Airport (CPH)
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Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Saturday 13 April 1963
Time:03:04 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic DC6 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Douglas DC-6B
Operator:Sterling Airways
Registration: OY-EAP
MSN: 43750/283
First flight: 1952
Engines: 4 Pratt & Whitney R-2800
Crew:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 0
Total:Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 3
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Kobenhavn-Kastrup Airport (CPH) (   Denmark)
Phase: Approach (APR)
Nature:Ferry/positioning
Departure airport:Las Palmas-Airport de Gran Canaria (LPA/GCLP), Spain
Destination airport:København-Kastrup Airport (CPH/EKCH), Denmark
Narrative:
The DC-6 departed Las Palmas on a three-engine ferry flight to Copenhagen, Denmark via Barcelona, Spain. The airplane took off after refueling at Barcelona at 22:24 GMT.
On short final to Copenhagen, probably immediately before passing the first approach lights, the pilot-in-command ordered full flaps. The speed was then 110-130 knots and the height rather low. The aircraft showed a tendency to bank which was counteracted by applying aileron control. At 100-200 m before the runway threshold, the pilot-in-command realized that he no longer had sufficient control to make a safe landing and decided to abandon the landing. When speed was around 100 knots full power was added, the gear was selected up and flaps were ordered to 20. Upon power application, the aircraft banked violently to the right. The wingtip struck the ground 200 m beyond the threshold and 80 m right of the centreline. The outer portion of the wing disintegrated and the aircraft crashed.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "During the approach to runway 04 with the starboard outer engine inoperative, the speed of the aircraft decreased to a value critical for safe manoeuvring. Because of this, the pilot-in-command attempted an overshoot. In the course thereof he lost control of the aircraft which, in a heavy bank, went into an uncontrolled right-hand turn, its starboard wing hit the ground, and the aircraft crashed. That the aircraft got into the above-mentioned critical situation must, to an essential degree, be attributed to the fact that the pilot-in-command selected full flaps at a time when the altitude and speed of the aircraft in relation to the distance from the runway threshold did not justify such disposition."

Sources:
» ICAO Accident Digest No.15 - Volume I, Circular 78-AN/66 (75-79)


Photos

photo of Douglas-DC-6B-OY-EAP
accident date: 13-04-1963
type: Douglas DC-6B
registration: OY-EAP
photo of Douglas-DC-6B-OY-EAP
accident date: 13-04-1963
type: Douglas DC-6B
registration: OY-EAP
photo of Douglas-DC-6B-OY-EAP
accident date: 13-04-1963
type: Douglas DC-6B
registration: OY-EAP
photo of Douglas-DC-6B-OY-EAP
accident date: 13-04-1963
type: Douglas DC-6B
registration: OY-EAP
 

Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Las Palmas-Airport de Gran Canaria to København-Kastrup Airport as the crow flies is 3781 km (2363 miles).

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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