fire indication we'd like to declare an emergency and I'm descending now uh we're just uh getting ourselves down here as fast as we can it's a beautiful Saturday morning in the summer of July 20th 1996 Anchorage International Airport Alaska in the midst of bustling airport activities Northern Air Cargo Douglas DC 6A flight 33 is being loaded with 28,000 pounds of valuable cargo destined to reach several communities scattered across the expansive Alaskan landscape today's routine flight plan is as always demanding starting with their first stop at annak airport to offload cargo and mail from aniac the journey would continue to bethl and emac where similar offloading tasks were scheduled the day Mission would culminate with a return to Anchorage International Airport covering almost 1,000 nautical miles in the cockpit three crew members are deeply engaged in a thorough pre-flight routine meticulously going through extensive checklists their focus is on preparing to start the four Pratt and Whitney double wasp radial engines with the cargo loaded and secured and checks completed the crew initiated the startup procedures of the four 18 cylinder engines a prescribed sequence is followed methodically bringing each engine to to life readying the aircraft for the dayong journey across the Alaskan Skies taking off from Anchorage International Airport flight 33 smoothly ascended to its designated cruising altitude setting course for ANC the first stop of the day at the controls is 53-year-old Captain Bruce Bell a veteran Aviator with a remarkable 14,200 flight hour of which 7,200 were logged in the Douglas dc6 beside him first Officer Gary Clayborn boasting 9,000 hours of Total flight time including 4,500 hours in the dc6 completing the crew flight engineer Rex Ketchum who had been certified as a flight engineer on December 7th 1994 held a commercial pilot certificate though he was not typ rated on the dc6 as flight 3 3 neared ANC the crew encountered adverse weather conditions near the airport leading to an essential alteration in their itinerary opting to bypass aniac they redirected towards bethl their next scheduled stop with a revised flight path they smoothly navigated to bethl airport achieving a safe landing around 700 a.m. local time after successfully unloading the cargo at bethl the crew Reed the aircraft for its onward journey to emac however unfavorable weather at emac falling below safe operational minimums LED Northern Air Cargo operations to instruct the flight to remain at bethl until the weather ameliorated several hours later with improved conditions at emac the flight received clearance to continue resuming the next phase of its schedule arriving at emac near noon flight 33 quickly offloaded its cargo the team efficiently managed a rapid turnaround and by 1410 p.m. the aircraft was back in the air annak airport free from earlier weather disruptions was their next stop for additional cargo and mail offloading before The Returned flight to Anchorage it was at this juncture that an extra passenger joined the flight at emac Hitching a return trip with the crew after a day full of unexpected challenges and delays caused by weather the crew remained determined to fulfill their cargo delivery schedule and returned to Anchorage before nightfall however 45 minutes into their flight from em the crew faced an unexpected and Grave emergency when the firebell suddenly activated in the [Music] cockpit which one is is it number three number four firewall selector firewall selector selector H number three engine still burning discharge the right hand Bank are we feathered feather it okay there goes I still see a fire propeller on number three still not completely feathered speed going down too a minute after the fire alarm confusion between the captain and first officer about the troubled engine gave way to the identification of engine number three as the culprit their response deploying fire suppression and trying to f feather the propellers was met with challenges particularly in fully Feathering engine 3's propellers and extinguishing the fire as time is ticking away Captain Bell is pressed to make an imminent critical decision set to meow power run Landing checks is's number three feathered still not feathered feather three it goes three is Feathering confirmed three is feathered still indicating fire fire is starting to go out no fire indication set to Meadow power wow I saw another flicker if the fire is out I would rather not land here Captain Bruce Bell is referring to a small Airfield field at Russian Mission a remote Village nestled along the banks of the Yukon river and what is that smell there is smoke in the cockpit air speed 115 I can see the fire still burning we need to get this airplane down water on not too tight 115 I'm going down wind for this Runway we're getting out on all the other engines keep her going yeah keep her going whoa in a sudden and unforeseen moment the DC 6's Wing detached from the fuselage during its Bas leg turn in the traffic pattern for Runway 35 at Russian Mission the airplane rolled to the right and crashed nose first into the ground roughly 3/4 of a mile from the runway sadly this catastrophic accident resulted in the tragic loss of all three crew members and the passenger on impact news of the accident swiftly reached the Operation Center of Northern Air Cargo in Anchorage leading to the immediate dispatch of emergency teams to the crash site at Russian Mission the NTSB formed a team of experts who along with Northern Air Cargo Representatives conducted an extensive examination of the accident site key components of the airplane wreckage including various engine parts were collected and sent to aviation industry Specialists for detailed examination and testing Additionally the cockpit voice recorder was recovered and subjected to thorough analysis following months of meticulously examining all available information the NTSB released its Aviation investigation final report on the crash of Northern Air Cargo flight 33 the NTSB report identified two major issues with the first being the cause of the engine fire in the number three engine the disassembly of this engine revealed a broken crank case in the forward cylinder Bank specifically between cylinders 6 and 8 further investigation showed that the master rod and all link rods were severed with visible striations on the master Rod shank these components including the master Rod cylinder and piston were analyzed by the ntsb's metallurgical laboratory the findings indicated a crack on the top of the rod head and two areas of fatigue fracture additionally the rod head was out of round and the shank had failed due to fatigue opposite the side of the fatigue crack in the rod head the metallurgical report concluded that the origin of the fracture at the top of the rod head was due to corrosion pits the surprising second finding in the accident report involved a procedural error by the flight crew the ntsb's analysis of the cockpit voice recorder indicated that the crew failed to adhere to emergency procedures specifically by pulling the fire handle before Feathering the propeller this misstep reduced the effectiveness of the fire suppression system leading to an uncontained fire this fire likely compromised the structural Integrity of the aircraft culminating in the wing failure and the subsequent crash feather it okay there he goes I still see a fire with the flight Crews combined flying experience totaling approximately 25,000 hours questions naturally arise about how how such a seasoned team could commit a seemingly apparent procedural error what the accident report did not delve into were the personal circumstances of the crew factors like inadequate sleep stress from personal matters or physical and emotional health issues can lead to lapses in concentration at critical moments these human factors often overlooked can have dire consequences sometimes resulting in the ultimate price being paid [Music] [Music] [Music]
