De Havilland DHC-2 accident near Talkeetna, AK
On August 5, 2018, a De Havilland DHC-2 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Talkeetna, AK. 5 people died. Damage to the aircraft: substantial.
- Date
- August 5, 2018
- Place
- Talkeetna, AK
- Aircraft
- De Havilland DHC-2 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 5 fatal, 0 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Substantial
- Position
- 62.790°N, 151.225°W
- NTSB ID
- 20180805X60932
Official records · ANC18FA063
- Public docket: reports, statements and exhibits from the investigation
NTSB summary
HISTORY OF FLIGHTOn August 4, 2018, about 1753 Alaska daylight time, a de Havilland DHC-2 airplane, N323KT, sustained substantial damage during an impact with steep, snow-covered terrain about 50 miles northwest of Talkeetna, Alaska, in Denali National Park and Preserve. The commercial pilot and four passengers were fatally injured. The airplane was registered to Rust Properties, LLC, and was operated by Rust's Flying Service, Inc., doing business as K2 Aviation, as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 visual flight rules on-demand commercial air tour flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and company flight following procedures were in effect. The flight departed Talkeetna Airport at 1705 and was scheduled to return about 1 hour later. The glacier tour flight comprised an aerial tour of multiple glaciers as well as the area that serves as base camp for Denali climbers. A review of GPS track data from the company's satellite tracking program revealed that, at 1746, the accident airplane had changed its course near the Denali summit and proceeded southeast down the Kahiltna glacier valley abeam the Kahiltna Climber Base Camp. At 1753, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center received an alert from the airplane's emergency locator transmitter (ELT). At 1756, K2 Aviation's satellite tracking program alerted the flight follower that satellite tracking had stopped and the company initiated lost aircraft procedures. About 1800, the accident pilot placed a satellite phone call to personnel at K2 Aviation. According to another company pilot that was in the
Probable cause
Impact with terrain for reasons that could not be determined because the airplane was not recovered due to the inaccessible nature of the accident site.
From Wikipedia
On 4 August 2018, a de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver aircraft operated by K2 Aviation crashed in poor weather at Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska, United States. All five people on board survived the crash, but died before rescuers were able to arrive at the scene. The five people consisted of the pilot and four Polish tourists.
Text from Wikipedia, “2018 K2 Aviation DHC-2 crash”, CC BY-SA 4.0; shortened to the introduction. Authors.
More accidents in AK
- Beech 1900C, Nov 23, 1987
- Textron Aviation Inc 208B, Feb 6, 2025
- Dehavilland DHC-3, Jul 7, 2013
- Cessna 208, Oct 10, 2001
- Dehavilland DHC-3, Jun 25, 2015
Browse: Alaska · De Havilland 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.
