Incident Overview
Description
Northern Air Cargo Flight 690 departed Deadhorse for a flight to Alpine airstrip at around 15:30. The purpose of the flight was to deliver about 20,000 pounds of oil drilling equipment to a remote oil production site. Light snow showers were present, with visibility reported at 4 miles. The captain stated that during final approach, as the airplane passed over the airstrip threshold, a higher than normal sink rate was encountered. He said that the initial touchdown was “firm”, but was thought to be within acceptable tolerances. Just after touchdown, the left wing broke free from the airplane at the wing to fuselage attach point. The airplane veered to the left, continued off the left side of the 5,000 feet long by 75 feet runway, down an embankment, and came to rest in an area of wet, tundra-covered terrain. A postcrash fire ensued, heavily damaging the center section of the fuselage. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The flightcrew’s continued use of an unstabilized GPS approach. Factors associated with the accident were low ceilings, and the inadequate coordination between the crew.”
Primary Cause
Unstabilized GPS approachUnstabilized GPS approachShare on:
