Amateur-built DHC-6-300 accident near Grand Canyon, Arizona, September 27, 1989
On September 27, 1989 at about 4:53 pm local time, a amateur-built DHC-6-300, registered N75GC, was destroyed in an accident near Grand Canyon, Arizona (Grand Canyon airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 10 people were killed, 9 people were seriously injured and 2 people had minor injuries. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
IMPROPER PILOT TECHNIQUES AND CREW COORDINATION DURING THE LANDING ATTEMPT, BOUNCE, AND ATTEMPTED GO-AROUND.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 27, 1989 · about 4:53 pm local time
- Place
- Grand Canyon, Arizona · Grand Canyon · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 10 people were killed, 9 people were seriously injured and 2 people had minor injuries.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built DHC-6-300
- Registration
- N75GC · no longer on the register · serial 439
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
GRAND CANYON AIRLINES FLT 5 (DEHAVILLAND DHC-6, N75GC) DEPD GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK ARPT ON A LOCAL PART 135, SIGHT- SEEING FLT. AFTER RTRNG FROM A NORMAL TRIP, THE FLT WAS CLEARED TO LAND ON RWY 21. OBSERVERS RPRTD THE APCH TO THE ARPT WAS NORMAL, BUT THE ACFT TRAVELED ABOUT 1000' DOWN THE RWY AT AN ALT OF ABOUT 5' BEFORE TOUCHDOWN. RPRTDLY, IT BOUNCED &TRAVELED ANOTHER 1000' BEFORE TOUCHING DOWN AGAIN. THE ACFT THEN VEERED TO THE RGT & THE FLT CREW INITIATED A GO-AROUND (ABORTED LNDG). THE ACFT CLIMBED IN A NOSE HIGH ALT TO ABOUT 150' TO 200' AGL, THEN IT ROLLED TO THE LEFT & CRASHED ONTOA WOODED HILL ABOUT 120' LEFT OF THE RWY. A PWR LINE WAS SEVERED DURING IMPACT, WHICH INTERUPTED ELEC PWR TO THE ARPT & DELAYED EMERG RESPONSE TO THE CRASH. SURVIVING PSGRS RPRTD THE RGT SEAT PLT WAS FLYING THE ACFT, WHILE THE LEFT SEAT PLTNARRATED THE TOUR; BUT AFTER A HARD TOUCHDOWN, THE LEFT SEAT PLT TOOK CTL OF THE ACFT & APPLIED FULL PWR FOR A GO-AROUND. A SCRAPE MARK WAS FND WHERE THE RGT WINGTIP SCRAPED THE RWY DURING THE 2ND TOUCHDOWN.
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
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 4,120 hours in all; 2,610 in this make and model; 297 in the last 90 days; 79 in the last 30 days; 4,014 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 11,180 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, September 23, 1989; 19 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 12,500 lb
- Seats: 21
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: P&W PT6A-27 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Runway 21, 8,999 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 160° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 50 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 8,000 ft
- Temperature: 73°F (23°C), dew point 41°F (5°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:50 pm from GCN
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 8 | 9 | 2 |
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 N75GC the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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 never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.