Incident Overview

Description
The Alkan Air DHC-3 Turbine Otter, C-GKYG, was on a day VFR trip from Whitehorse, YT to the Anniversary Strip. While en route, the pilot elected to conduct a practice takeoff and landing at the May Creek landing strip. Winds at the time of the occurrence were calm and the pilot set up for landing on the easterly runway, which had a slight upslope. On short final, the pilot experienced a noticeable glare from the rising sun. The aircraft touched down short of the runway and the right main landing gear struck the edge of a drainage ditch which ran perpendicular to the runway. C-GKYG continued with the landing and roll out. As the aircraft slowed down to taxi speed the right main landing gear collapsed at the trailing link spare. C-GKYG sustained damage to the propeller and the right wing. On 5th October 2005 the Otter was returned to Whitehorse Airport, slung under a Sikorsky S-61 helicopter. The Otter was repaired at Whitehorse and returned to service.
Primary Cause
Glare from the rising sun during a practice takeoff and landing.Glare from the rising sun during a practice takeoff and landing.Share on: