Air North accident near Bronson Creek

The Air North accident near Bronson Creek occurred on 14 August 1996. On that day a Douglas DC-4/C-54A-15-DC (F) of Air North, which was to operate a flight from Bronson Creek Airport to Wrangell Airport, had to ditch in the Iskut River because of an emergency in the form of a progressive engine fire. The captain of the aircraft was killed in the incident.

Accident sequence

On that day the aircraft was to operate a flight from Bronson Creek Airport, a remote location known for the Snip gold mine, which was in operation until 1999, to Wrangell in Alaska. After a successful takeoff, the crew suddenly heard a howling noise at an altitude of 1,500 feet. They activated the inverters, but the problem persisted. The electrical gauges then showed erratically fluctuating readings. The next moment, engine No. 2 (left inboard) began backfiring. The crew then activated the engine fire extinguishing system, but the engine fire could not be put out. The captain flew a right turn to return to the Bronson Creek runway and said that engine No. 2 had torn away from the wing. The captain applied maximum thrust on the three remaining engines, but the aircraft began to lose altitude. Both pilots held the rudder and aileron controls fully deflected to the right to prevent the aircraft from yawing or rolling to the left. The aircraft was vibrating violently at this time and the crew members could read neither the engine gauges nor the flight instruments. At around 12 o'clock local time and about 50 feet above the ground, shortly before reaching the Iskut River, the pilots pulled the throttles to idle. The aircraft descended rapidly and the burning left wing struck a tree as the fuselage touched the surface of the river.

After the accident

The three occupants escaped from the burning aircraft, the captain and the first officer through the right cockpit window and the loadmaster through the cockpit door. The first officer and the loadmaster swam to the bank. They were spotted from rescue helicopters that had taken off from Bronson Creek and arrived after 10 minutes. The captain was missing after the emergency landing and could not be found even after a two-day search downstream. It was presumed that he had drowned.

Accident investigation

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada conducted the accident investigation after the incident. The investigators found the separated engine No. 2 together with its propeller at a distance of 2.3 nautical miles from the accident site. Parts of the burnt-out left wing and of engine No. 1 could also be recovered. Because of a strong current in the river, it was not possible to recover further wreckage.

The investigation found that engine No. 2 and its firewall had separated from the wing when the mounts behind the firewall, consisting of aluminium channel sections, failed. These aluminium struts were still attached to the steel fittings mounted on the engine mount of the separated engine. The inboard aluminium sections showed a damage pattern consistent with exposure to high heat, while the outboard struts showed signs of mechanical stress.

The investigators concluded that engine No. 2 had torn away from the wing as a result of a massive engine fire and that this event had also affected the operation of engine No. 1. The crew had then had no option other than to make an emergency landing in the river.