# NTSB ANC93LA170: Cessna 185, N70087, Hulahula River, AK, August 30, 1993 - Type: NTSB accident investigation - Classification: Accident · Fatal · Limited investigation · Final report - Date: August 29, 1993, 17:25 local (Aug 30, 1993, 01:25 UTC) - Place: Hulahula River, AK - Coordinates: 66.559143, -145.250976 (estimated) - Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=66.5591&lon=-145.2510&mi=10 - Phase of flight: [Enroute](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-phases/400) (OpenAirDocs' grouping) - Highest injury: Fatal - Injuries: 1 fatal - Status: Completed, report December 2, 1994 - Report: Approved by Office Director - NTSB office: Alaska Regional Office - NTSB case key (mKey): 2424 - NTSB case page: https://web.ntsb.gov/investigations/?ntsbnumber=ANC93LA170 - NTSB report (PDF, downloads): https://data.ntsb.gov/carol-repgen/api/Aviation/ReportMain/GenerateNewestReport/2424/pdf - Page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC93LA170 ## Probable cause THE PILOT IN COMMAND'S ATTEMPTED VFR FLIGHT INTO IMC CONDITIONS. FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WERE THE HIGH TERRAIN AND THE OBSCURATION. ## Sequence of events In NTSB's coding before 2008 (https://www.ntsb.gov/GILS/Documents/codman.pdf). - In flight collision with terrain/water, cruise - normal - weather condition - obscuration (contributing factor) - terrain condition - high terrain (contributing factor) - vfr flight into imc - attempted, pilot in command (cause) ## Analysis THE PILOT COMMUNICATED THAT THE WEATHER IN THE MOUNTAIN PASS AHEAD DID NOT LOOK FAVORABLE AND WOULD RETURN TO THE REMOTE CAMP IF UNABLE TO MAKE IT THROUGH. A WITNESS REPORTED THE HIGH TERRAIN WAS OBSCURED IN CLOUDS. SEARCH AIRCRAFT LOCATED WRECKAGE NEAR 7000 FOOT LEVEL OF TOP OF PASS IN A 20 DEGREE UPSLOPING RAVINE. A POST CRASH FIRE DESTROYED THE AIRCRAFT. THE WRECKAGE WAS NOT RECOVERED. ## Factual narrative On August 29, 1993, at approximately 1725 Alaska daylight time, a wheel-equipped Cessna 185 airplane, N70087, operated by Yukon Air Service of Fort Yukon, Alaska, collided with the terrain near the 7000 foot level of the Brooks Range in northern Alaska. The accident site was near the headwaters of the Hulahula and the Sheenjuk rivers, ll0 miles southeast of Deadhorse on the Arctic Ocean. The commercial pilot, sole occupant and operator of Yukon Air Service, a CFR Part 135 on-demand air carrier, was fatally injured and the aircraft was destroyed. The airplane had departed Fort Yukon on a VFR flight plan and carried passengers to a remote camp on the Upper Colleen River, at 68 05 04N, 144 57 18W. The airplane was reported to have departed that camp at 1600. At 1715, it passed another camp on the Upper Sheenjuk River and radioed a message to guide Joe Want about the flight progress. Mr. Want recalled the pilot to have said, "it didn't look good ahead, (and) if I don't make it (through the pass to the Hulahula River headwaters), I'll come back. No other communications with the accident airplane are known. The destination was a gravel bar known as Grasser's Strip at 69 05N, 145 33W. Mr. Want reported the weather in the area on the day of the accident to be visual meteorological conditions with mountain top obscuration in clouds at about the 7000 foot level. The airplane was missing for 8 days and was the subject of an extensive air search. The accident site was located by a Canning Air Cessna 185, on a snowfield in a 20 degree upward sloping ravine leading to the 7000 foot pass. Shortly after the aircraft wreckage was sighted, a contract US Forest Service helicopter landed at the site and confirmed that there were no survivors and that only the pilot was on board at the time of the crash. A fire which consumed the airplane had burned into the glacial snow and then was covered by approximately 18 inches of fresh snow. The remains of the pilot-in-command were found to be in the cockpit of the airplane. Alaska State Trooper and FAA investigators reached the scene and located all parts of the aircraft. Investigators found the propeller hub mounting flange and studs to show torsion and shear failure, detaching that flange from the engine. The new snow had covered the mountain pass and the investigative team were not able to discern impact marks in the high mountain pass near the wreckage. The ceiling and visibility at the time of the accident at the site is unknown. The deceased pilot was the sole proprietor of the 14 CFR Part 135 operation and no NTSB Form 6120.1/2 was provided for the investigative files. ## Aircraft - Registration: [N70087](https://openairdocs.org/deregistered/N70087-2011-06-16), registration cancelled 2011-06-16, S/N 18501953, built 1971 (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: CESSNA 185 - Registry model: [Cessna A185E](https://openairdocs.org/model/cessna-a185e) (registry code 2072818) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: [Continental IO-520 series](https://openairdocs.org/engine/continental-io-520-series) (registry code 17032, reciprocating) (OpenAirDocs) - Category: Airplane - Engines: CONTINENTAL IO-520 300 horsepower reciprocating - Damage: Destroyed - Fire: On-Ground - Flight: Business, Part 91 - Operator: Dowding, Roger D., doing business as Yukon Air Service - Registered owner: Roger D. Dowding - Airworthiness certificate: Standard, Normal - Departed: COLLEEN RIVER, AK ## Flight crew As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names. - Pilot; age 43; commercial; airplane ratings: single-engine land, single-engine sea, multi-engine land; instrument ratings: airplane; medical: class 2, valid medical--no waivers/lim.; seat: left; toxicology performed; flight hours: 5,000 total, 1,000 in this make and model, 4,900 as pilot in command, 100 in the last 90 days, 30 in the last 30 days, 4 in the last 24 hours ## Weather - Conditions: Day - Visibility: 50 statute miles - Lowest ceiling: 7,000 ft overcast - Temperature: 37 °F - Observed at: 50 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 (OpenAirDocs). - [Accident 19930829042429A](https://openairdocs.org/incident/19930829042429A), Aug 29, 1993: Cessna A185E, Hulahula River, AK, Destroyed, 1 fatal. Flew into side of cloud obscured mountain trying to negotiate a pass. VFR was not recomended due rain and snow. ## Other investigations on N70087 (3) From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. - [NTSB ANC90LA180](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC90LA180), Sep 18, 1990: Cessna 185 (N70087), Upper Colleen, AK, substantial damage. Probable cause: THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND'S FAILURE TO SELECT SUITABLE TERRAIN FOR LANDING. CONTRIBUTING TO THE ACCIDENT WAS THE ROUGH AND UNEVEN TERRAIN. - [NTSB ANC89LA026](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC89LA026), Dec 21, 1988: Cessna 185 (N70087), Porcupine Lodge, AK, substantial damage - [NTSB FTW80DRD36](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/FTW80DRD36), Jun 3, 1980: Cessna 185 (N70087), Morgan City, LA, substantial damage From the NTSB's public API. Aircraft are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported serial number, make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.