(moved)DC-10/Chiefton incursion at Anchorage Intl

http://www.alaska.faa.gov/fai/images/COOKSU/ANC-a.jpg

At one point at Anchorage International, a KAL DC-10 cargo flight out of Anchorage had a problem on departure because the airport was socked in due to fog.

A commuter airline out of Kenai owned by a friend was approved to take the runway with a twin Piper Senaca and hold for minimums for departure on 6 L. The KAL heavy was authorized to take 24 L and hold.
The problem was that KAL took 24 R mid intersection instead of 24 L. Note: take the runway and hold for both aircraft. Also note the runway setup on the link above.

The Kenai Commuter obeyed instructions and took the runway and held as instructed. The KAL took the wrong runway and did not hold and made a rolling departure directly toward the Senaca. There was no ground radar in the tower at the time. Since he was midway to start with, there was no chance he could make it off with the fuel load to Japan making the 10 right at gross. At the last minute he apparently saw the Piper and yanked the nose up to clear the nose gear but the main gear caught the wings of the Piper but left the cabin intact more or less. All in the Piper lived only because it was an early model of the DC-10 that did not have the center truck. OK guys from Kenai, you know who the passenger are but please don't post their names unless they say it is OK. It does not change the story.

This is a situation that Douglas got in so much trouble for. The fire of the downed DC-10 was so hot the fire department at ANC let it burn itself out off the end of the runway.
When able to get in and poke around, they and NTSB found some very strange blocks of very, very heavy material. Come to find out, they were spent uranium blocks used for ballast on the DC-10 during construction but Douglas never told anyone, especially those concerned with fire control and rescue. What a surprise.

My company was having our company Christmas party at the time and we shut that down and immediately offered our available equipment to fill in for their schedules with their flight numbers. That is just what aviation was like in those days in Alaska. The commuter carrier would have done the same for us at any time too. Strange how two airline owners can fight tooth and nail over business but when the chips were down, there were no better friends in the world.

I used to work for that Kenai commuter. The nose wheel actually just barely glanced off of the top of the fuselage just above the windshield. However it was a Navajo Cheiftan, they never had any Senecas. We used to have a copy of the channel 2 news report on it. Not much left of ether plane. All on board the Navajo were very lucky. We cannibalized parts off of that Navajo wreckage for years. Sure sad to see that airline go. What a good group of guys and gals.
Shawn

ak2711c said:

I used to work for that Kenai commuter. The nose wheel actually just barely glanced off of the top of the fuselage just above the windshield. However it was a Navajo Cheiftan, they never had any Senecas. We used to have a copy of the channel 2 news report on it. Not much left of ether plane. All on board the Navajo were very lucky. We cannibalized parts off of that Navajo wreckage for years. Sure sad to see that airline go. What a good group of guys and gals.
Shawn

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Shawn
Your info has to be far more correct than mine needless to say and thanks for the correction.
I have to compliment that carrier. The appearance of their aircraft was the best local carrier in and out of ANC in those days.

Just between you, me and a fence post, I got so upset when our station manager at Kenai used to put your baggage on our larger aircraft, free of charge of course, and then we had to pay any damage claims. I flew down to ENA one day in a rather foul mood and put a final stop to that. Not much room in the wing lockers for a family of 5 going on a 3 week vacation, right?

Remember the Navajo on a scheduled flight from Homer that landed gear up in CAVU weather at ENA? I was working for that airline at the time.

I think I do remember that. If it is the one I am thinking of, as I recall the nose gear was stuck up due to a bent shimmy dampener. The pilot, a good friend of mine, made a pretty uneventful landing. After they skidded to a stop they all calmly evacuated the plane and stood out of the way. Thats when it got a little ugly. The Kenai fire department decided they needed to spray down the whole aircraft with foam, with the crew door and cabin door wide open mind you. There was no fire but I think they were just thirsting for a little action. It made for a lot more work. It got in the radios, instruments, circuit breakers, new David Clark head set, and the upholstery :x . My buddy said he would never leave his head set in the plane if that happened again.
As far as the appearance of the planes, we took a lot of pride in keeping them clean inside and out.
Shawn

Not the same one Shawn

This was a HOM/ENA/ANC flight, not a cloud in the sky, winds calm and a long straight in VFR approach. No mechanical problems with the aircraft, only a "minor" error of judgment on the part of the pilot. Lack of brains most people call it. We were flying one Navajo at that time with one pilot which we usually used to fly the McKinley route. Passenger load: one very beautiful and friendly lady sitting in the seat right behind the copilot seat. I know, I had to (required to, forced to or requested to) interview her. On approach, the captain started his prelanding check by the book until he turned around to talk to this beautiful lady because she interrupted him. He said at times he glanced forward to clear the air and back to talking to her. He would have been better off had he moved her up to the right seat on that flight. He did not recall going through the rest of the landing checklist which told me he didn't even do it. The tower told me it was the most beautiful gear up landing they had ever seen. It seems as soon as he knew the gear was up, what, no lights? (you just know when you get such a sinking feeling) and hearing the props hitting the asphalt, he hit the master which saved the engines and just minor damage to the flaps and bottom of the fuselage. He was so slow and at idle that the prop tips were not even bent that much although ruined of course. I am sure the fire department responded but no water or chemicals were used like what you described. The aircraft was raised, the gear lowered and towed off the runway. We sent a crew down to get it ready to ferry back to ANC. Actually, as I recall, all they did was replace the prop blades at ENA and run the engines up for a long time but lots more was done in our hanger in ANC. No flap landing at ANC. By the way, it was not the same pilot that dumped it at ENA.

That was not a very fun day for me Shawn but in a way, just part of commercial aviation when you have to hire low time (and single) pilots as we had to do at the time for our light aircraft. I was there with the owner when he first talked to the pilot. We may have had a stripper come in for the birthday party in the board room for our chief pilot as a joke but in this case it was not a party at all.

I always commended your airline for the way you maintained your aircraft. Public image? Outstanding. Someday I will have to tell you about the trip I took to AirCal GO in Calif trying to put together a program with them as you guys had with a stateside airline so we could compete better. It was always fun trying to out maneuver your owners but we always did it in a friendly way. That might even be a good story for everyone. It was an interesting project back some 20 years ago. See Shawn, you just turned that good old light bulb on again.

DC-10

The DC-10 was a Korean Air. The pilot of the Navajo was Gary Holt. As I recall it was two days prior to Christmas. The fuselage of the Navajo sits in Sterling.

Re: DC-10

labdad32 said:

The DC-10 was a Korean Air. The pilot of the Navajo was Gary Holt. As I recall it was two days prior to Christmas. The fuselage of the Navajo sits in Sterling.

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Needless to say, it was a KAL 10, not a JAL. Thanks for the correction.

Partial NTSB report.

http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20001214X45259&key=1