- Date
- September 21, 1983, 11:15 local (19:15 UTC)
- Place
- Valdez, AK
- Injuries
- 2 fatal
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Approach
- Aircraft
- N4559FCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19830921051139A
- Case key
- 4062
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The plt had tried to fly to silver lake, earlier that morning, but had to abort the mission due to low ceiling & visibility. When he had returned at 1110 adt, the ceiling had improved, but there was still layers of stratus & fog below the main cloud base. Witnesses observed the acft circle twice & believed the plt intended to land. During a descending left turn with 15 to 20 deg of bank, the acft struck the water with the left float, then bounced high above the water. At the top of the bounce, high eng was heard, then the acft pitched down abruptly & crashed in the water. When the water & spray subsided, witnesses saw 2 floats, the rear section of the fuselage & debris on the water. About 2 min later, they saw the 2 occupants climb onto the floating wreckage. The witnesses began building a log raft to rescue the occupants, but before completing the raft, the occupants had drifted out of sight in fog & rain. A search was made for the occupants, but they could not be found & were presumed to have drowned.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4559F
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 185-1065
- Airframe hours
- 4,405
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-D, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Kenneth C. Sumey, Columbia Air
- Registered owner
- Kenneth H. Bunch
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · September 4, 1983 · 88 hours before
- Departed
- ROBE · Robe Lake, AK
- Destination
- Silver Lake, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 34
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 2,500 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Visibility
- 3 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 36 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.
Other investigations on N4559F · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.