Cessna 185 accident near Yakutat, Alaska, August 17, 2000
On August 17, 2000 at about 1:00 am local time, a Cessna 185, registered N185M, was substantially damaged in an accident near Yakutat, 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 total fatigue failure of the right main landing gear leg.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 17, 2000 · about 1:00 am local time
- Place
- Yakutat, 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
- N185M · registry record · serial 18504264
- 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 pilot said that during landing on firm sand, the right landing gear leg separated at the wheel attachment upper bolts. The remaining gear leg dug into the sand, and the airplane spun around. The airplane sustained substantial damage to both main landing gear attachments, and both wings. The NTSB materials laboratory found areas of fatigue at both upper bolt holes. Corrosion pitting was found at one of the fatigue sites. The airplane had been operated on skis in the past.
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: single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,000 hours in all; 4,500 in this make and model; 300 in the last 90 days; 100 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,500 hours
- Last inspection: 100-hour inspection, August 3, 2000; 50 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,350 lb
- Seats: 5
- Landing gear: fixed
- Engine: Continental IO-520 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: HNS Haines AK at 6:00 pm
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 0
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 270° at 5 knots
- Visibility: 40 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 8,000 ft
- Temperature: 61°F (16°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 N185M 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.