Douglas DC-6B accident near Mcgrath, Alaska, January 2, 1998
On January 2, 1998 at about 7:26 pm local time, a Douglas DC-6B, registered N861TA, was destroyed in an accident near Mcgrath, Alaska (Nixon Fork Mine Strip airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under large-aircraft private carriage rules (Part 125). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The ingestion of snow into the windshield anti-ice system, and the resulting obscured windshield which made runway alignment not possible. Factors associated with this accident were the cold windshield, the reduced performance of the windshield anti-ice because of the short taxi by the crew, and the insufficient information on the system provided by the manufacturer.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 12, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 2, 1998 · about 7:26 pm local time · cases in 1998
- Place
- Mcgrath, Alaska · Nixon Fork Mine Strip · cases near this airport · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Douglas DC-6B · all DC-6Bs on the register
- Registration
- N861TA · registry record · serial 43522
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · large-aircraft private carriage rules (Part 125)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
During the takeoff roll, while passing 45 knots indicated airspeed, ice formed between the inner and outer panes of the airplane's windshield, obscuring the crew's vision. The flight crew aborted the takeoff, the airplane drifted off the left side of the snow covered runway, and caught fire. The crew reported the airplane and windshield were cold soaked and the temperature was -10 degrees Fahrenheit. The windshield anti-ice system blows air from a combustion heater between the windshield glass panes. The air source for the heater, once the airplane has forward airspeed, is two leading edge wing scoops. The crew told the NTSB investigator that the taxi time was too short for the windshield to warm up, and that during the taxi, snow was circulated around the airplane and into the wing scoops.
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, commercial pilot, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 27,000 hours in all; 16,000 in this make and model; 250 in the last 90 days; 55 in the last 30 days; 24,000 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 46,626 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, December 22, 1997; 25 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 103,800 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W R-2800-CB-16 (piston); 0 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Departed from: NFR Nixon Fork Mine AK at 7:26 pm
- Destination: PAQ Palmer AK
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 34, 4,200 ft by 85 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 60 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: -9°F (-23°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N861TA the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N861TA on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Douglas DC-6 17 registered today · the model family and its accident history
- Douglas 305 aircraft on the register
- Engine: P&W R-2800-CB-16 173 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Warren "Bud" Woods Palmer Municipal · bound for
- Accidents and incidents in Alaska 5,930 since 1982 · 826 in the last ten years
- Alaska 9,142 aircraft registered
- Other NTSB records under N861TA 1 records · the number may have belonged to another aircraft at the time
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/ANC98LA014.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.