Incident Overview
On 8 August 1975, an aircraft operated under contract to the US Department of the Interior departed Anchorage, Alaska, bound for Greybull, Wyoming. The aircraft, identified as BuNo 59876 (civil registration N6813D), had accumulated approximately 1475 flight hours. One engine had been shut down due to rough running, and a planned fuel stop at Ketchikan, Alaska, was missed because of bad weather.
Sequence of Events
Shortly after midnight on 9 August, after seven hours of flight, the aircraft exhausted its fuel supply. The remaining operating engines began to fail. The aircraft was over the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, with the 5,000-foot paved runway at Port Hardy below. During final approach with only one engine running, the pilot deemed the aircraft too high to land and initiated a go-around. The aircraft struck the ground during the turn, crashed through the airport perimeter fence, crossed a beach strewn with rocks and driftwood, and came to rest in the ocean approximately 100 yards offshore.
Rescue and Aftermath
The control tower radio operator lost contact with the aircraft and immediately alerted the airport fire station. Seeing no aircraft or fire, rescue crews initially searched short of the airport. Meanwhile, the two-man crew escaped through a roof hatch as the cockpit filled with water. They stood on the aircraft, spotted a floating seat cushion, and swam to shore. Upon reaching land, their legs were numb from cold. After resting, they navigated in darkness over logs and through brush to the airport boundary fence.
Fire and rescue crews had returned to the airport and resumed searching. As the pilot and copilot approached the fence, they saw an emergency vehicle speed down the runway and stop at a hole in the fence where the aircraft had crashed through. The crew attracted the driver's attention by shouting and waving. They were taken to the fire hall, given blankets and hot drinks, and later transported by ambulance to a hospital for examination.
Damage and Injuries
Both crew members sustained only minor injuries. The aircraft received substantial damage to its nose gear and underbelly, and the left wing tip and flap were destroyed. The pilot was subsequently fired by H&P, while the copilot remained with the company but later died in a 1980 crash of a C-119.
Probable Cause
Fuel exhaustion.