Grumman Goose crash in Dutch Harbor highlights a dying breed

VICTORIA BARBER

April 18, 2008 at 10:32AM AKST

On April 9, a Grumman Goose aircraft clipped a vehicle while landing in Dutch Harbor and crashed into the runway.

Nine people aboard the plane and the vehicle’s driver walked away from the crash with no major injuries, but the fate of the plane is uncertain.

As the National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration investigate the crash, Scott Bloomquist, Peninsula Airways’ vice president of sales and service, said the airline is conducting its own investigation into whether the crushed Grumman Goose will fly another day.

"From the pictures it doesn’t look very good," Bloomquist said. "There’s always hope, but there’s just so few of them around."

Bloomquist said Pen Air used the Grumman Goose exclusively for transporting passengers from Akutan to Dutch Harbor and back. Akutan, a city of more than 700 people, has no landing strip and the rough waters surrounding the island make it difficult for floatplanes to land.

The Grumman Goose, however, lands with its hull in the water, making it stable in even big swells of the Bering Sea.

It’s this sturdy, amphibious design that has made the Goose a fixture of Alaska aviation for almost 70 years, favored by civilians, commercial airlines, government agencies and the military alike. The Goose is known as a plane that can go anywhere.

The plane’s rugged reputation belies a genteel origin. According to Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum curator Dave Morgan, the Grumman Goose was originally created as a luxury shuttle for businessmen traveling along the coastal United States.

More of a flying yacht then a flying boat, the plane was built to accommodate three passengers, with ample room for a bar and a small toilet.

However, during World War II the Goose’s spacious and sturdy construction caught on, and the planes were enlisted for small transport duty in all branches of the military.

"It’s great utilitarian airplane for carrying people around," said Morgan. "They’re built like tanks and they’re good flyers."

After the war, surplus planes were absorbed for civilian and cargo transport, and Alaska boasted the largest Goose fleet in the United States. The planes were used by coastal airlines, civilian pilots and employed for search and rescue missions and land surveys by the government.

"Having the ability to land on air and water is a great plus in Alaska," said Morgan. "Their dependability and durability is legend, and people have became loyal to them. It’s a great history up here."

Like the Douglas DC-3, the popularity of the Grumman Goose has persisted nearly 70 years after it was planes were first produced. There are numerous fan sites devoted to the Grumman Goose, and forums for those looking to swap Goose stories or find plane parts.

Clark Corbridge, the mayor of Seward, is a self-described "Goose enthusiast." Corbridge said that the popularity of the Goose is a result of its being the right plane for the right time.

"The Goose provided an awful lot of very high-quality service in difficult spots for over 50 years," Corbridge said. "It’s a fortunate design that brought together the right engines and the right airframe at the right size and made it very durable."

Today, however, a flying Goose an increasingly rare sight as more of the planes crash or become grounded. Of the 345 Grumman Goose produced, only 64 are registered with the Federal Aviation Administration Registry, 10 of which are in Alaska. Of these, several sit in museums.

Pen Air owns three Grumman Goose, which take turns rotating in and out of service every seven months or so. A replacement for the crashed Goose arrived in Dutch Harbor the morning of Sunday, April 13.

Bloomquist said that, to his knowledge, Pen Air is the only airline in the state using the Goose commercially in the United States.

However, Corbridge said that the April 9 accident is a reminder that communities like Akutan might not be able to rely on the Goose much longer.

"It’s a concern locally that, because of rarity of the parts and the aircraft, they might become unavailable for air transport," Corbridge said. "It’s a powerful argument for Akutan to get that second airport."

For now, the Grumman Goose continues to serve Alaskans in the hardest-to-reach places. However, it seems only matter of time before the legendary Goose fades into history.

Victoria Barber can be reached at (907) 348-2424 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 424.