- Date
- June 25, 1990, 14:30 local (22:30 UTC)
- Place
- Aialak Bay, AK
- Injuries
- 5 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N9985MCessna 207A
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report December 14, 1992
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19900625026689A
- Case key
- 5298
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
The pilot-in-command's attempt to fly under visual flight rules while in instrument meteorological conditions. Contributing factors to the accident were the low ceiling and surrounding mountainous terrain.
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
Two airplanes departed seward within minutes of each other on a local flightseeing trip, and their flight routes were to be the same. After reaching Aialak Bay, this airplane passed the other and started the return trip to seward. The pass they would normally use was obscured by clouds. The peninsula that separated Aialak Bay and seward was the only part of land that was obscured by weather. The bases of the clouds were at 1200 feet MSL. The airplane was located on the northeast side, at the 2700 foot level of a mountain, and the wreckage was scattered along 330 degrees. The pilot had been hired less than 2 months before the accident as a ground handler and fueler, and for pilot training. Two days before the accident he was authorized to fly part 135 flightseeing trips.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N9985M
- Reported as
- Cessna 207A
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20700775
- Airframe hours
- 3,391
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Trail Lake Flying Service, Inc
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 18, 1990 · 8 hours before
- Departed
- SWD · Seward, AK
- Flight plan
- Company VFR
- Airport
- SWD · Seward
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
- 42
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Invalid Medical for flight
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 540 total · 510 as pilot in command · 100 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 160° at 15 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,200 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 55 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.