Amateur-built DHC-6-100 incident near Barrow, Alaska, April 14, 1989
On April 14, 1989 at about 1:05 am local time, a amateur-built DHC-6-100, registered N100AP, was involved in an incident near Barrow, Alaska (Wiley Post airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
THE PROPAGATION OF A FATIGUE CRACK FROM MULTIPLE ORIGINS DUE TO MANUFACTURING DEFECTS IN THE ELEVATOR BELLCRANK MOUNTING QUADRANT.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 14, 1989 · about 1:05 am local time
- Place
- Barrow, Alaska · Wiley Post · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC-6-100
- Registration
- N100AP · registry record · serial 22
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE AIRPLANE HAD JUST DEPARTED BARROW, AK, ON A SCHEDULED COMMUTER FLIGHT WITH FIVE PASSENGERS AND TWO CREW MEMBERS ON BOARD. UPON REACHING AN ALTITUDE OF 150 AGL, THE CONTROL YOKE WAS PULLED FORWARD OUT OF THE CAPTAIN'S HANDS AND PINNED AGAINST THE CONTROL PANEL. SIMULTANEOUSLY, THE NOSE OF THE AIRPLANE SUDDENLY PITCHED UP 60 DEGREES ABOVE THE HORIZON. THE CAPTAIN REDUCED POWER AND THE NOSE PITCHED 30 DEGREES BELOW THE HORIZON. THE FLIGHT CREW WAS EVENTUALLY ABLE TO MAINTAIN A LEVEL ATTITUDE BY POWER ADJUSTMENTS ALONE, AND RETURNED FOR A SAFE LANDING. INSPECTION REVEALED A FATIGUE FRACTURED ELEVATOR BELLCRANK MOUNTING QUADRANT, P/N C6CFM1142-1, RESULTING IN A COMPLETE LOSS OF ELEVATOR CONTROL. THE ELEVATOR BELLCRANK MOUNTING QUADRANT HAD BEEN IN SERVICE SINCE 1966 AND HAD BEEN OPERATING 17,826 HRS. THE FRACTURE OCCURRED BETWEEN THE VERTICAL STABILIZER STUB FIN ATTACHMENT BULKHEAD AND THE BELLCRANK. METALLURGICAL EXAM REVEALED MULTIPLE FATIGUE ORIGINS IN THE VICINITY OF SUPERFICIAL MACHINING ABRASIONS.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot, flight instructor
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,666 hours in all; 2,014 in this make and model; 213 in the last 90 days; 133 in the last 30 days; 5,261 as pilot in command; 1,224 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 17,780 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, March 14, 1989; 57 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 11,579 lb
- Seats: 21
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W PT6A-20 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Destination: ATK Atqasuk AK
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 24, 6,500 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 150° at 18 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 6,000 ft; scat at 3,300 ft
- Temperature: 36°F (2°C), dew point 30°F (-1°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 5 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ANC89IA059.