Cessna 185 accident near Chenega Bay, Alaska, December 23, 1999
On December 23, 1999 at about 2:45 pm local time, a Cessna 185, registered N70021, was substantially damaged in an accident near Chenega Bay, Alaska. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's selection of an unsuitable takeoff area during the incoming tide. Factors associated with the accident were the incoming tide wave, and the pressure induced by the delays encountered picking up the passengers.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 23, 1999 · about 2:45 pm local time
- Place
- Chenega Bay, Alaska · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 3 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 185 · all 185s on the register
- Registration
- N70021 · no longer on the register · serial 18501896
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The air taxi pilot was picking up two passengers from a remote beach site. The flight had been delayed for five days due to bad weather. The accident flight takeoff was attempted during an incoming tide. During the takeoff roll, a wave washed across the beach in front of the airplane. The pilot wrote in his NTSB Pilot/Operator Report that he was 'too slow to fly, and too fast to stop.' He said he rotated the airplane off the ground and applied additional flaps in an attempt to takeoff over the water. The airplane settled, the wheels contacted the water, and the airplane nosed over.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 965 hours in all; 150 in this make and model; 80 in the last 90 days; 45 in the last 30 days; 900 as pilot in command; 250 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,902 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, November 18, 1999; 6 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,350 lb
- Seats: 4
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520D (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: Montague Island AK at 2:45 pm
- Destination: SWD Seward AK
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 25°F (-4°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N70021 the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.