- Date
- July 29, 1992, 09:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Yakutat, AK
- Injuries
- 1 fatal
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N7MECessna 207
- Weather
- Day
- Status
- Completed · report August 26, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- NTSB office
- Alaska Regional Office
- FAA report
- 19920729034409A
- Case key
- 5763
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 elected to fly an improper altitude. Contributing factors were the pilots attempt to fly VFR into IMC conditions, and the obscured weather.
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 crash occurred at the 1100 foot level of a mountainside while the airplane was flying a course roughly parallel to the mountain range. Marginal weather conditions were reported for the area. The pilot's 22-year-OLD son stated that in those type weather conditions his father would routinely climb up into the soup. Set a loran course for home, and sit back and relax. When close to home he would descend to VFR conditions over the flat coastal area and land.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N7ME
- Reported as
- Cessna 207
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 20700263
- Airframe hours
- 3,292
- Engine
- Continental IO-520-F, 300 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Fire
- On-Ground
- Flight
- Positioning · Part 91
- Operator
- Gulf Air Taxi
- Registered owner
- Harold D. Robbins
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · July 2, 1992 · 76 hours before
- Departed
- Dry Bay, AK
- Flight plan
- 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
- 48
- Certificate
- Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine sea, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Toxicology
- Performed
- Flight hours
- 9,500 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 9,500 as pilot in command · 265 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days · 1 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Day
- Wind
- 110° at 14 knots
- Visibility
- 5 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,500 ft broken
- Temperature
- 54 °F, dew point 50 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- YAK, 30 nm away
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 N7ME · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.