Earlier this week, a Douglas DC-3 belonging to TransNorthern Aviation suffered a runway excursion in Goodnews, Alaska. The incident occurred after the 81-year old tail-dragger arrived on a flight from Anchorage, carrying 15 passengers and two crew members. There were no injuries among these 17 occupants, and damage to the DC-3 was limited.
The flight in question
TransNorthern Aviation is a small airline based at Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC) in Anchorage, Alaska. According to data from planelogger.com, it operates a fleet of seven classic propeller-powered aircraft. TransNorthern deploys these vintage airliners on passenger and cargo flights, with the former serving Alaskan fishing lodge destinations.
One such service is TransNorth Aviation flight TNV63. This designation previously applied to a Beechcraft Model 18-operated service between Anchorage and Homer Airport (HOM), Alaska. However, data from RadarBox.com shows that its most recent use corresponds to an intra-Alaska flight from Anchorage to Goodnews Airport (GNU).
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What happened?
According to RadarBox data, TransNorthern Aviation flight TNV63 departed Anchorage on August 4th with a 27-minute delay, at 10:27 local time. Having cruised southwest across Alaska for more than two hours, the flight touched down at 12:48. It did so on Goodnews Airport's runway 06, which is an 864-meter long gravel strip.
As it turned out, this landing proved to be a rather eventful one. According to a report in The Aviation Herald, the aircraft experienced a runway excursion following its touchdown. This took it off to the right-hand side of the runway, where it stopped on the soft ground adjacent to the gravel strip. There were no injuries as a result of the runway excursion.
Sources such as Mentour Pilot and Aviation Safety Network have also observed that the plane suffered a collapsed right landing gear during the incident. However, despite this, the octogenarian DC-3 operating the flight only received minor damage as a result. Simple Flying has contacted TransNorthern Aviation for further information.
The aircraft involved
The aircraft that experienced this excursion from Goodnews's 864-meter gravel runway was a Douglas DC-3 which bears the registration N30TN. According to airport-data.com, Douglas built the aircraft in 1940, making it an impressive 81 years old! Planelogger notes that its first customer was the US Air Force, who flew it from 1941 to 1944.
During this time, Mentour Pilot notes that it was specifically designated as a C-117D ‘Skytrooper.' However, once its military service was over, it joined American Airlines as a 'Super DC-3.' These aircraft were post-war improvements of original DC-3s and C-47s. N30TN (then registered as NC15579) left American Airlines after just five years, in 1949.
Since then, it has flown for a wide range of almost entirely US-based operators. The one exception to this was Mexican bank Banco Mercantil de Monterey SA, which flew it as XB-NIW from 1966 to 1972. It joined TransNorthern in 2004, and has served destinations like the brilliantly named King Salmon Airport (AKN) ever since.
What do you make of this incident? Have you ever flown on a Douglas DC-3? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.