30 Sep 20245:23 reconstruction59K views

Engine Failure Forced a Gear-Up Landing at Merrill Field

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Timeline
1
8 December 2021 — N28TN departed Anchorage on TNV-123.
2
Shortly after takeoff — The right engine failed and the crew declared an emergency.
3
Initial response — The crew requested to return to Anchorage.
4
During the turn — The crew diverted to Merrill Field.
5
About 900 ft — The aircraft reached its approximate maximum altitude before the emergency landing.
6
Landing — The DC-3 landed gear-up on Runway 07.
7
After landing — The aircraft stopped on the runway; both pilots were uninjured.

The right engine failed after departure

On 8 December 2021, TransNorthern Aviation's Douglas R4D-8, registration N28TN, departed Anchorage for Kodiak on freight flight TNV-123. Shortly after takeoff, the crew experienced a failure of the right-hand engine. The crew declared an emergency and initially requested a return toward Anchorage International Airport.

The crew changed the plan

During the turn, the crew decided to divert to Anchorage-Merrill Field, about four nautical miles northeast of the international airport. The aircraft climbed to approximately 900 feet before the crew committed to the alternate landing plan. Because the emergency had followed an engine failure, the landing was conducted with the landing gear retracted.

The airplane stayed on the runway

The aircraft touched down on Merrill Field's Runway 07 with the gear up, keeping the left wing and operating engine as high as possible during the rollout. The crew brought the airplane to a stop on the runway. Neither pilot was injured, although the aircraft sustained substantial damage.

The runway became the recovery site

The damaged DC-3 was subsequently removed by crane and the runway remained closed until recovery was complete. The available reporting confirms the engine failure, the diversion and the gear-up landing, but it does not establish a final mechanical cause in the documented record.

The crew's choice of Merrill Field also avoided an unnecessary assumption that the aircraft had enough altitude or performance to return to the original runway. Contemporary reporting explicitly says the diversion was made during the turn. That is a documented operational decision and should remain distinct from any generalized statement about single-engine performance. The successful landing was the outcome of that emergency plan, not evidence that the aircraft was never in serious danger.

The incident account states: “the aircraft was still gear up when the aircraft touched down on runway 07 at Merrill.”

Aircraft
Douglas R4D-8 Super DC-3 N28TN
Date
8 December 2021
Location
Anchorage, Alaska
Category
Non-fatal accident

Sources

Audio from the original air traffic control recording, sourced from public recordings and released investigation records. The reconstruction, animation and written account are our own.
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