N3125N

On April 27, 1999, about 1315 Alaska daylight time, a tailwheel equipped deHavilland DHC-3 airplane, N3125N, sustained substantial damage during a landing on a remote airstrip, about 13 miles north-northeast of Healy, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) on-demand passenger flight under Title 14 CFR Part 135, when the accident occurred. The airplane was operated by Forty Mile Air Ltd., Tok, Alaska. The certificated airline transport pilot, and the sole passenger, were not injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. A VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Fairbanks International Airport, Fairbanks, Alaska, about 1000.

During a telephone conversation with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator-in-charge (IIC), on May 3, 1999, the chief pilot for the operator reported he was flying the airplane into and out of a small airstrip located on a ridge line. He was transporting building supplies and workers to the area. The airstrip, known as Daniels Strip, is oriented east/west, and is about 1,500 feet long and about 10 feet wide. The pilot said the airstrip is a one-way airstrip, with landings performed toward the west. The strip is flat for about half of the length, and then proceeds uphill. The pilot said on the third landing of the day, he touched down on the strip on the main landing gear. Before the tail wheel touched down, a gust of wind pushed the airplane off the left side of the strip. The leading edge of the left wing struck a tree, damaging the wing tip and wing nose ribs. The pilot said a tail wind was present, about 15 knots from 090 degrees.