A final report on the fiery crash of a commercial cargo plane near Fairbanks last year that killed both crew members aboard says one of its engines lost power and exploded.
The National Transportation Safety Board report identified several maintenance and repair problems with the Douglas C-54 that crashed and burned on April 23, 2024.
The report, released earlier this month, also identified the crew as pilot John Sliwinsky, 68, and co-pilot Harry Secoy, 63. The men lived in Anchorage and Palmer, respectively.
According to the report, investigators concluded that one of the crash’s two main causes was a loss of power in one of the propeller plane’s four engines soon after it took off from Fairbanks International Airport. But investigators were unable to determine why the engine lost power.
The other main cause was an incorrectly installed fitting that caused a malfunction in the system that adjusts the propellers’ settings.
The report says a poorly repaired fuel leak on the port side wing’s No. 1 engine also contributed to the crash. The engine exploded and fell from the plane in flight, causing the pilot to lose control as he was maneuvering to return to the airport. The aircraft careened off ice on the Tanana River and slammed into a hillside about seven miles southwest of the airport.
The C-54 was built in 1945 and operated by Wasilla-based Alaska Air Fuel. The plane was headed to the village of Kobuk to deliver 3,400 gallons of unleaded fuel and two 100-gallon propane tanks. It also had about 1,300 gallons of aviation fuel aboard to power the plane’s engines.
State officials assessed the crash site for fuel contamination, but determined that most of the fuel had burned in the ensuing fire.