Douglas DC-6A

Douglas DC-6A

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Remarks by Jack McKillop: "This aircraft had been ordered by Slick Airways of San Francisco, California, USA, but they cancelled the order and it was sold to Alaska Airlines of Seattle, Washington, USA, and registered N6118C. On July 21, 1961, this aircraft was making a Ground Control Approach (GCA) landing to Shemya Island in the Aleutian Islands when it crashed 200 feet (61 meters) short of the runway killing the six man crew. The aircraft caught fire and was completely destroyed."

The following text is from Aviation Week:
11/05/62. ...on July 21, 1961, during the approach to a landing at Shemya, Alaska, an en route refueling stop, after descending through minimum weather conditions under the guidance of ground controlled approach, the aircraft crashed and burned approximately 200 ft. short of the runway threshold on a course aligned with the runway. All six persons aboard were crew members and all received fatal injuries. ...the accident occurred during the hours of complete darkness.
The red runway approach lights, the first four pairs of runway lights and two of four green threshold lights were inoperative. This lighting deficiency was not observed or reported to the aircraft by those in charge of field lighting or by the GCA controller.
On the day following the accident is was discovered for the first time that an electric cable lying along the side of the runway had been cut two days prior to the accident to allow construction vehicles to pass over the area.
The Board determines that the probably cause of this accident was the absence of approach and runway lights, and the failure of the GCA controller to give more positive guidance to the pilot during the last stages of his approach.

For more information, see the Aviation Safety Data Base.


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Remarks by Jack McKillop: "This aircraft had been ordered by Slick Airways of San Francisco, California, USA, but they cancelled the order and it was sold to Alaska Airlines of Seattle, Washington, USA, and registered N6118C. On July 21, 1961, this aircraft was making a Ground Control Approach (GCA) landing to Shemya Island in the Aleutian Islands when it crashed 200 feet (61 meters) short of the runway killing the six man crew. The aircraft caught fire and was completely destroyed." The following text is from Aviation Week: 11/05/62. ...on July 21, 1961, during the approach to a landing at Shemya, Alaska, an en route refueling stop, after descending through minimum weather conditions under the guidance of ground controlled approach, the aircraft crashed and burned approximately 200 ft. short of the runway threshold on a course aligned with the runway. All six persons aboard were crew members and all received fatal injuries. ...the accident occurred during the hours of complete darkness. The red runway approach lights, the first four pairs of runway lights and two of four green threshold lights were inoperative. This lighting deficiency was not observed or reported to the aircraft by those in charge of field lighting or by the GCA controller. On the day following the accident is was discovered for the first time that an electric cable lying along the side of the runway had been cut two days prior to the accident to allow construction vehicles to pass over the area. The Board determines that the probably cause of this accident was the absence of approach and runway lights, and the failure of the GCA controller to give more positive guidance to the pilot during the last stages of his approach. For more information, see the Aviation Safety Data Base.