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Atlas / NTSB / ANC92LA043

NTSB CAROL · Event

Event ANC92LA043

1992-03-03 SELAWIK, Alaska, United States Airport · WLK Minor 1 aircraft Status: Completed

Registry · N151

FAA Aircraft Registry record.

Make / Model

DOUGLAS DC-6B

Seats / Engines

96 seats · 4 engines

ADS-B equipped

Yes — Mode-S A0CDE5

Registrant of record

TATONDUK OUTFITTERS LTD

Source: FAA Aircraft Registry (releasable master file).

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT'S INADEQUATE PRE FLIGHT PLANNING AND DISREGARDING THE AIRCRAFT PERFORMANCE DATA. CONTRIBUTING FACTORS WERE THE EXTREME OUTSIDE AIR TEMPERATURES, THE ICY RUNWAY, AND THE TAILWIND.

Factual narrative

THE HEAVILY LOADED FUEL TANKER LANDED WITH AN APPROXIMATE 3 KNOT TAILWIND, OVER RAN THE DEPARTURE END OF THE RUNWAY, AND CAME TO A STOP ON A FROZEN RIVER. THE LAST TWO THIRDS OF THE 3,150 FT LONG GRAVEL RUNWAY WAS COVERED WITH ICE. THE CREW STATED THAT THE PROPELLERS EITHER FAILED TO GO INTO REVERSE, OR WERE SLOW IN REVERSING, TO ASSIST IN STOPPING. EXAMINATION REVEALED THAT ALL PROPELLER BLADES WERE IN THE REVERSED POSITION. OUTSIDE AIR TEMPERATURE WAS MINUS 30 TO MINUS 35 DEGREES F. THE AIRPLANE PERFORMANCE CHART USED TO CALCULATE THE LANDING DISTANCE WAS FOR 'CONCRETE RUNWAYS'. STOPPING DISTANCE WAS NOT PREDICATED ON THE USE OF REVERSE PROPELLER THRUST. POST ACCIDENT CALCULATIONS, USING THE SAME CHART, FOUND THE ESTIMATED LANDING DISTANCE NEEDED FOR THE ACCIDENT FLIGHT TO BE 100 TO 200 FT MORE THAN THE LENGTH OF THE RUNWAY. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1992_ANC92LA043.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.