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One tough bird
On 9 November 2009 Winston Brent sent in the following...
Jaws.....
The following may interest you and add to the history of SAAF 6855.....
regards
Winston Brent
A friend in the UK asked me to check on the veracity of a story that a DC-3 in Ottawa, KS had an excursion off airfield, and suffered minor damage. This is what I found.........
John
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Had planned on visiting Ottawa Municipal Airport en route to St Louis on Thursday October 29th, but with torrential rain and very limited visibility I decided that discretion was the better part of valour. Returning on November 1st, it was past sunset so decided to wait until this week. Had to go to Topeka on Friday November 6th, so took a 60 mile dog leg to go to Ottawa.
At Dodson I talked to the office manager, who showed me some photos on her computer. These were principally of the wheel tracks, and a nose-on view of ZS-OJJ's final resting location. Then talked to John, the head mechanic at the facility, and we went outside. Late in June Dodson had taken off the PT-6A-65 engines, and the propellers, as part of the rebuilding process. Their ramp was congested, so ZS-OJJ was tied down off the hard standing - this might have helped reduce damage.
The microburst/straight-line wind hit the airport hard, destroying or damaging all buildings, as well as a number of aircraft. The wind was basically from the northwest. It struck the tied down ZS-OJJ and all the moorings were torn out of the ground and the DC-3 started trundling backwards. It went over the adjacent road, over a drainage ditch, through a number of fences, and over more ditches. In its travels it just missed a number of round hay bales, as well as a row of trees. When it ceased rolling it had travelled a mile and a half. The aircraft was not visible from the airfield, so Dodson found it by following the wheel tracks. These were continuous, indicating that the aircraft never became airborne.
After it was towed back, mechanics found the following damage:
1) The starboard elevator was damaged beyond repair;
2) The port elevator had minor damage
3) About 10ft from the port wingtip there was a gouge which might have been caused by a fence post. Initial indications are that the damage was only on the surface, with no internal effect on the stringers or other structures; and
4) Small lower fuselage nicks and scratches, but nothing more than one would expect in normal usage.
I would point out that on 1 May 1986 this aircraft, then still a P&W powered C-47B of the South African Air Force, had been struck by a SAM-7 missile.
So, is that two lives down?
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DC-3 Individual Aircraft History 
