Cessna 185E accident near Talkeetna, AK
On June 20, 2000, a Cessna 185E (airplane) was involved in an accident near Talkeetna, AK. 4 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- June 20, 2000
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Aircraft
- Cessna 185E · Airplane
- Injuries
- 4 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 62.451°N, 149.791°W
- NTSB ID
- 20001212X21135
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHT On June 19, 2000, about 1815 Alaska daylight time, a wheel/ski equipped Cessna 185E airplane, N1589F, was destroyed when it broke-up in flight over a remote area of the Denali National Park and Preserve, about 52 miles west of Talkeetna, Alaska. The airplane was being operated as a visual flight rules (VFR) U.S. Government flight by the U.S. Department of Interior, National Parks Service (NPS), Talkeetna, Alaska, when the accident occurred. The airplane, provided by Hudson Air Service Inc., Talkeetna, was utilized on an on-demand Title 14, CFR Part 135 flight. The airline transport certificated pilot and the three passengers received fatal injuries. A VFR flight plan was filed. The flight originated at the Talkeetna airport at 1710. The flight was conducted to transport a National Park Service ranger, and two volunteer rangers, to the Denali National Park base camp, located at 7,200 feet msl on the southeast fork of the Kahiltna glacier, about 48 miles northwest of Talkeetna. The three rangers were to begin mountain patrol operations on Mt. McKinley. The director of operations for the operator reported that variable weather conditions near the National Park Service's base camp made landing at the base camp problematic throughout the day of the accident. The accident pilot had flown a company Cessna 172 over the areas of the Ruth and Tokositna glaciers between about 0950 and 1050. When he departed Talkeetna at 0947 in the Cessna 172, a flight service station specialist at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Talkeetna Flight Service Station (FSS), ope
Probable cause
The pilot's continued flight into known adverse weather conditions and subsequent in-flight break-up. Factors in the accident were weather conditions consisting of low ceilings, turbulence, and an occluded front with convective activity, and inadequate oversight of the flight by company management.
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Browse: Alaska · Cessna aircraft
Source: NTSB aviation accident database (US government, public domain). Findings may be preliminary or later revised by the NTSB. Not a complete global record.
