- Date
- September 20, 1989, 03:25 local (11:25 UTC)
- Place
- Mulchatna River, AK
- Injuries
- 2 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N4443RCessna 185
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed · report June 28, 1991
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19890920035669A
- Case key
- 5265
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
Improper planning/decision by the pilot, which resulted in fuel exhaustion due to an inadequate supply of fuel. Factors related to the accident were: loss of fuel that had siphoned (leaked) from the aircraft before takeoff and tree(s) overhanging the fast moving River.
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
Before taking off from an unnamed lake, the plt noted fuel had siphoned from the fuel tanks, but he thought he had enough fuel to get to port alsworth, AK. En route, the eng lost power & a force landing was made on a swift moving River. After landing, the River swept the floatplane rearwared into an over hanging tree, which caused it to nose over. A person at the departure point stated that just prior to the flt, he saw fuel dripping from the wing and a slick on the water.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N4443R
- Reported as
- Cessna 185
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18502957
- Engine
- Continental IO-520, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- William Livesay
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Destination
- Port Alsworth, AK
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
- 45
- Certificate
- Private
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Single-engine sea
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 160 total
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Night/dark
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.