- Date
- June 16, 1983, 03:30 local (10:30 UTC)
- Place
- Petersburg, AK
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N1820XCessna 182H
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19830616025879A
- Case key
- 39713
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
The student plt was on a night flt from whitehorse to prince rupert, Canada via skagway & juneau, AK. According to him, when passing the five fingers NDB to enter the strait, he encountered southeast winds of aprx 25 KTS. On attempting to return to juneau, he became unsure of his position due to deteriorating wx. He spent several hrs trying to determine his position & finally saw the lights of a ship. Also, he was at low altitude & reportedly tried for 45 min to communicate his problem by radio. Eventually, communication was relayed by another acft that was overflying the area. As fuel was exhausted, the acft was ditched next to the ship that he had located. He was rescued by personnel on the ship, but the acft sank. The student plt had only 7 hrs of night flying experience & no reported instrument time. The wx at the time of the accident was estimated to be 2000 ft overcast, 1/2 mi visibility with rain & fog.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N1820X
- Reported as
- Cessna 182H
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 18255920
- Airframe hours
- 2,050
- Engine
- Continental O-470-R, 230 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Personal · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Bruce Russek
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Annual · May 1, 1983
- Departed
- YKY · Whitehorse
- Destination
- VPT · Prince Ruppert
- 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
- 29
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 258 total · 183 in this make and model · 183 as pilot in command · 10 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- 150° at 15 knots, gusting 25
- Lowest ceiling
- 2,000 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 52 °F, dew point 46 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- KDN, 20 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.