- Date
- July 29, 1985, 01:00 local (09:00 UTC)
- Place
- Red Devil, AK
- Injuries
- 4 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Maneuvering
- Aircraft
- N12904Cessna 172M
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19850729034559A
- Case key
- 4424
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
Shortly after the plt took off on a ngt flt to bethel, the acft crashed just north of the east/west rwy in a nose down attitude & on a southwesterly heading. The acft was destroyed during impact, but contd sliding aprx 35 yds to the north edge of the rwy, then overturned & came to rest about 120 ft from the initial impact point. An investigation revealed the acft had landed at some time btn 2300 & 0015 adt. At about 0030, thick fog formed in the vicinity of the arpt which was located beside a river. Reportedly, the acft took off about 5 min prior to the acdnt (aprx 0055 adt). At about the time of the acdnt, a witness on a river barge saw an acft flying along the river, heading toward the arpt. The wreckage was not fnd until aprx 0900 when another acft was taxiing to takeoff. The plt had purchased some alcoholic beverages & was transporting them in the acft. The seal of 1 bottle was broken, but the bottle was also broken. A check of the plt'sblood showed only a trace of alcohol which could have been attributed to putrefaction.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N12904
- Reported as
- Cessna 172M
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 17262359
- Airframe hours
- 4,068
- Engine
- Lycoming O-320-E2D, 150 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- George Neck
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · August 26, 1984 · 235 hours before
- Departed
- RDV · Red Devil, AK
- Destination
- BET · Bethel, AK
- Airport
- RDV · Red Devil
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
- 44
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Right
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 513 total · 273 in this make and model · 468 as pilot in command · 64 in the last 90 days · 18 in the last 30 days · 2 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Lowest ceiling
- 150 ft
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.