Cessna T207A accident near Bethel, Alaska, December 24, 1999
On December 24, 1999 at about 2:45 pm local time, a Cessna T207A, registered N1864, was substantially damaged in an accident near Bethel, Alaska (Bethel airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person had minor injuries; 5 others were unhurt. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The pilot's failure to remove frost from the airplane prior to flight, and an inadvertent stall/mush.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- December 24, 1999 · about 2:45 pm local time
- Place
- Bethel, Alaska · Bethel
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person had minor injuries; 5 others were unhurt.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Cessna T207A · all T207As on the register
- Registration
- N1864 · registry record · serial 20700526
- 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 certificated commercial pilot, with five passengers aboard, was departing runway 18 on a scheduled commuter flight. The pilot stated that the flight's original departure time was delayed for two hours due to ice fog, and low visibility. He said that just after takeoff, the engine surged followed by a loss of power. The airplane collided with snow-covered terrain during an off-airport emergency landing, and sustained substantial damage to the propeller, fuselage, and wings. Following retrieval of the airplane, an FAA airworthiness inspector examined the airplane, and found no mechanical anomalies. While still attached to the airplane, the engine was started and run at idle. The engine later produced full power on an engine test stand. A pilot-rated Alaska State Trooper, with extensive experience in the accident airplane make and model, examined the airplane soon after the accident. He said the wings, horizontal stabilizer, and elevators had an accumulation of frost.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,507 hours in all; 1,080 in this make and model; 232 in the last 90 days; 59 in the last 30 days; 2,395 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,809 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, December 22, 1999; 4 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520-F (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Destination: CFK Chefornak AK
- Runway 18, 6,398 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 020° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 6 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded; scat at 100 ft
- Temperature: -24°F (-31°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:53 pm from PAB
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 5 |
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 N1864 the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ANC00LA021.