NTSB: Faulty repair partly caused fatal crash of fuel-laden cargo plane near Fairbanks
Apr. 16—A cargo plane loaded with fuel that crashed near Fairbanks last year, killing both pilots on board, had a recently replaced engine and an ongoing fuel leak in the days before the crash, federal investigators say.
The Douglas DC-4 owned and operated by Wasilla-based Alaska Air Fuel went down after leaving Fairbanks International Airport in April 2024.
The plane, en route to the Northwest Alaska village of Kobuk for a fuel delivery, carried 3,400 gallons of unleaded fuel and two 100-gallon propane tanks.
The plane crashed onto Tanana River ice about 7 miles southwest of the airport, slid into a bluff and was consumed by flames. Pilot John Sliwinski, 68, and co-pilot Harry Secoy, 63, died in the crash. Both men were experienced pilots; Sliwinski owned Alaska Air Fuel.
A final report released by the National Transportation Safety Board this month describes a series of sudden and catastrophic mechanical problems that preceded the crash.
Three minutes into the flight, the pilots reported a fire and turned back for the airport, according to the new report. Witnesses said they noticed one of the plane's four engines wasn't running before seeing a plume of white smoke and then flames before the engine exploded.
The plane dropped into an uncontrolled left turn and crashed within five or six minutes of takeoff, the report said.
Air-traffic control audio that circulated after the crash includes the voice of one pilot informing controllers the plane is returning before saying, "Tell 'em I love 'em, man, tell 'em I love 'em," as it dropped from radar.
Maintenance records showed the engine that malfunctioned was an overhauled unit installed a week before the crash, the report said.
The Alaska Air Fuels director of operations also told the NTSB a fuel tank near the engine "was reported in the days before the accident to leak when full," lead investigator Mark Ward wrote. Fuel leaked into a space behind the engine and dripped out of the wing, the report said.
"Although a repair had been made, this repair did not fix the leak," Ward wrote. "For several days before the accident, the airplane was parked with full fuel tanks, dripping fuel into the wing space" behind the engine.
Investigators also discovered an incorrectly installed nut that would have produced "a spray of high-pressure oil around the hot exhaust system" when the pilots tried to feather the plane's propeller as they tried to control the aircraft in those last moments, the report said. That's what caused the white smoke and fire witnesses described before the fuel behind the engine ignited, resulting in the explosion, it said.
The agency determined the probable cause of the crash was a loss of power in that engine "for reasons that could not be determined" and the incorrect installation of the nut, allowing oil to spray onto the exhaust system. Investigators found a contributing factor was the incorrectly repaired fuel leak.
Alaska Air Fuel used the Douglas DC-4 to haul fuel to remote locations. The planes, which are increasingly rare, were originally used by the military, including during World War II. The military version of the DC-4 is known as the C-54 Skymaster.
Sliwinski was remembered at a memorial service last year as a passionate aviator, family man and active member of the Anchorage Grace Church community.
Secoy worked as an attorney in Washington state for about two decades, according to the Everett Herald. He was a former U.S. Army helicopter pilot who spent his last years working in Alaska as a DC-4 pilot.
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