Event ANC11LA048

Factual narrative

On May 28, 2011, about 1400 Alaska daylight time, a De Havilland DHC-3T airplane, N87AW, sustained substantial damage during landing at a private airstrip, about 80 miles northwest of Bettles Field, Alaska. The airplane was being operated by Alaska West Air, Kenai, Alaska, as a visual flight rules (VFR) passenger flight under 14 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 135, when the accident occurred. The commercial pilot and sole passenger were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, and company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight departed Coldfoot, Alaska, about 1300. During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC) on May 29, the director of operations for the operator said the airplane ran off the end of the runway into a fuel tank farm. He said the airplane's right wing and aileron were damaged when the airplane struck a fuel storage tank. No mechanical anomalies prior to the accident were reported by the pilot. In a written statement to the NTSB dated August 1, the pilot said the landing area was soft, and after touching down the airplane veered a little to the left, and he corrected to the right. When he attempted to come back to the left, he didn't have enough rudder and brake authority to bring the airplane to the left, and not enough runway remaining to abort the landing. He was unable to stop the airplane before it collided with fuel spill equipment. The pilot was landing at a remote, private airstrip. He said the landing area was soft, and as the airplane touched down it veered to the left. His efforts to abort the landing with the runway remaining was unsuccessful. The airplane exited the right side of the landing area and collided with a fuel tank farm. The airplane sustained substantial damage to the right wing, aileron, and the fuselage. The pilot said there were no mechanical malfunctions with the airplane that would have precluded normal operation. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database Retrieved: 2026-02-12

NTSB Findings

Hierarchical cause / factor breakdown from the FAA bulk avdata database. Each finding tagged C (Cause) or F (Factor).

• C Aircraft-Aircraft oper/perf/capability-Performance/control parameters-Directional control-Not attained/maintained - C
• C Personnel issues-Task performance-Use of equip/info-Aircraft control-Pilot - C
• — Environmental issues-Physical environment-Runway/land/takeoff/taxi surfa-Soft-Contributed to outcome