Cessna A185 accident near Fairbanks, AK
On August 27, 2020, a Cessna A185 (airplane) was involved in an accident near Fairbanks, AK. 2 people died. Damage to the aircraft: destroyed.
- Date
- August 27, 2020
- Place
- Fairbanks, AK
- Aircraft
- Cessna A185 · Airplane
- Injuries
- 2 fatal, 2 serious, 0 minor
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Position
- 64.812°N, 147.924°W
- NTSB ID
- 20200827X15154
NTSB summary
On August 27, 2020, about 1353 Alaska daylight time, a Cessna 185 airplane, N714KH, was destroyed and a Piper PA-18 airplane, N7498L, was substantially damaged when they were involved in an accident near Fairbanks, Alaska. The pilot and one passenger on the Cessna 185 were fatally injured, and the other passenger sustained serious injuries. The pilot of the PA-18 also sustained serious injuries. The Cessna 185 was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 135 on-demand charter flight. The PA-18 was operated as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 personal flight. The Cessna 185, operated by Flying Moose Alaska, based at Chena Marina Airport (AK28), was transporting two hunters from a remote camp back to AK28. The PA-18 was departing AK28 for a flight to Bradley Sky-Ranch Airport (95Z), North Pole, Alaska, when the accident occurred. AK28 is an uncontrolled airport located about 3 miles west of Fairbanks International Airport (FAI), inside of the FAI class D airspace. All pilots arriving or departing from AK28 are required to contact the FAI air traffic control tower (ATCT) before entering the class D airspace to ensure they don’t conflict with FAI traffic. FAI air traffic control (ATC) tower recordings indicated that at 1344:24 the Cessna 185 pilot reported to FAI tower that he was 14 miles north of Fairbanks inbound to AK28. The tower controller responded, “proceed to chena marina advise down.” The airplane was not equipped with a transponder; however, primary ATC radar revealed that the Cessna 185 entered a left downwind for runway 36 and flew a left base to the fin
Probable cause
The PA-18 pilot’s failure to see and avoid the Cessna 185 as it was landing. Contributing to the accident was the PA-18 pilot’s failure to hear the traffic advisory provided by the air traffic control tower.
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 · 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.
